Light Up The Stars
by Ladieesailor
Summary: When Kili is injured he is left behind on the wall where he fell. He is taken back to Thranduil's Halls and kept as both prisoner and a patient. A darkness dominates Thranduil clouding his judgements, but with Tauriel and Kili growing closer, they escape together barely with their lives. Can they face the problems now arising in consequence of the dwarves quest to Erebor together?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi Guys! Okay so I've wanted to do this Fic for a very long time! Just a few heads up, everything that happens in the movie upto when Bilbo pulls that lever in the wine cellar in the halls of Thranduil is the history of this story, this story will start as they fall through into the water below, and from then on everything changes! Hope you really enjoy it, I'll try and update as much as I can! Review, follow, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own The Hobbit.**

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He was surrounded by a cold darkness, the rushing of the current around him sent him tumbling through the swirling waves and hitting off of rocks. The only thing protecting him was the barrel around him, smashing into them and spiralling him into a different direction each time. Finally, the barrel surfaced and he sucked in the air like it was the last of it, clearing his eyes Kili looked above him, watching the last of the barrels fall down into the water. He counted the barrels behind and in front of him - he counted thirteen barrels and thirteen dwarves but no hobbit, he went to shout to Thorin that their halfling friend was missing when he saw a small figure burst out of the water and grab onto Nori's barrel, he breathed a sigh of relief, they were all safe.

"Quick, follow me before the elves catch us!" Thorin yelled, leading from the front as they all hurtled over the next waterfall into the white abyss below. Kili tried to keep as much control over the barrel as he could, he didn't quite fancy going under the water again anytime soon and he wanted to keep an eye around them, Azog was chasing them before, there was no reason why he wouldn't have waited out the time for them to appear again. Judging from the attempted defensive stances of the other dwarves - Thorin particularly – they felt the exact same. Soon enough as the water began to calm the final gate of Thranduil's stretch of manpower came into sight. Kili smiled to himself, as he looked up to the few elves that were guarding there, they hadn't been alerted of their escape yet, so the elves still had their backs to them, keeping their eye over the land beyond the wall. But he thought too soon, out in the distance behind them a low, long horn sounded off, snapping the elves attention to the gate, and them. One of the elf's raced forward, pushing up hard on a lever, slowly shutting the small gate just as the dwarves slammed against it.

"No!" Thorin yelled as he slammed against it and the others into him. Kili winced as profanity after profanity ran from Thorin's mouth into the deafening noise of the rushing river around them.

"What are we to do now?" Bilbo yelled from amongst them, still trying to keep himself a float. Kili, feeling sorry for him heaved him out of the water and dropped him into a spare barrel between himself and Gloin.

"Uncle," Kili called over to Thorin, "we cannot stay here, if they capture us again we do not have anyone to save us this time." He placed a hand on Bilbo's shoulder, letting him know he appreciated the length Bilbo went to. Bilbo between spitting breaths waved Kili's thanks down as if it was nothing.

Kili watched as Thorin went to answer when his face changed to surprise, a brief moment of fear passing over his face that Kili knew only him and Fili would spot. Kili spun in his barrel to look behind him to see an elf's floating body with an arrow in his back, swiftly followed by another one.

"We're under attack!" Bofur yelled as a black object came flying over the wall towards them, Kili went to grab the orc when a glowing blade came out from amongst them and pierced the orc straight in the throat, a panting Bilbo on the other end.

"By the beard of my kin you've saved us yet again Mr Baggins!" Kili clapped him on the back, feeling almost sorry for the little Halfling, his face as pale as the moon.

"Be on your guard there are more!" Thorin yelled just as another jumped ontop of Dwalin who pinned it under the water until its legs stopped kicking. He grabbed its blunt blade and chucked it to Kili, just as another orc jumped over followed by plenty more. He stabbed the first one in the chest, grabbing its blade and tossing it to Nori as he discarded the body behind them. Kili swung brutal blows with each new orc that jumped over, slowly arming the other dwarves, bar Dwalin who seemed quite content with killing them with his hands alone. Kili turned to plunge his knife into a falling orc when he heard a sharp whoosh as an arrow disappeared behind him, turning he came face to face with an orc that had landed on his barrel, the last feathers of the arrow fluttering in the wind before the orc fell back into the water, looking up to the shores more elves had appeared, Kili fell short of breath for a moment when he saw the red haired elf, the one who walks among the star's, the one who sat and listened to him when all other elves sneered at him and his fellow dwarves. She leaped forward into the orc's, twirling around them almost as if she were dancing, slaying them one by one.

"KILI!" Thorin cried snapping him back to attention, he spun to face his uncle who had deposited another orc into the water beside his barrel. He pointed up above him. "The lever, let us free!"

Kili nodded once, leaping free of his barrel onto the opposite shore, skewering two orcs at once as they ran towards him, both orcs falling and taking his blade with them. He carried on up towards the stairs, dodging a nasty looking orc as he tried to almost bear hug him.

"A little help, brother!" he yelled to Fili, who mid-fight managed to toss him a small axe.

Kili caught it, its lightness unsettling him in thought of whether it could do any damage, but it would have to do. Racing forward, knocking the orc's out of his way he finally got upto the top of the bridge. He buried the axe into the head of an orc attempting to get over the wall before running forward towards the lever. Just as his hands were about to wrap around the lever a sharp, burning white pain jolted into his leg freezing him in his place. Everything that followed slowed his vision almost to a halt, he fell hard, causing him to scream through his gritted teeth. He could hear the dwarves below calling his name, Fili above everyone else was screaming the loudest, but Kili could not turn to respond, even just the thought of getting up tired him, his vision dulled further as the pain increased, but somehow he pushed himself up, standing for only a second before he let his body weight drop onto the lever, dispatching himself back onto the floor again, the sweat now pouring from him, he heard the satisfying sound of the gates klink as they opened up.

"KILI! Quick, roll down now!" Fili's voice wavered up from below, Kili went to follow it when a deep pressure came down on his leg, this time he let out the scream, looking up to see a tall orc above him, grinning down as he pushed the arrow further into his leg. Kili reached forward pointlessly as he screamed, trying to remove the foot when two sharp knifes forced their way out of the orc's chest and pushed the filthy being over into the water sending it rushing out after the dwarves. He went to roll again, not caring if he had to swim through the rapids, he could still hear Fili and Thorin calling him as they disappeared through the gates down below. A knife came to his throat, he turned, expecting the red haired elf, only to find the blonde stern one glaring down at him, the red haired one behind him, chewing on her lip with a hint of worry in her eyes as she stared back into Kili's eyes.

"Get up dwarf." He turned his attention back to the blonde haired one. When he didn't move the elf dug the blade in deeper, pulling Kili up onto his legs causing him to scream in anguish as more pressure went onto the arrow, he collapsed forward, landing onto the elf.

"_Mellon_, can't you see he is injured," he heard her voice whisper above him as he tried to push himself away, causing the elf to tighten his grip.

"Yes, Tauriel I can see that, but I do not think my father would be interested in the state of a dwarf - only that he has captured one. The sooner we get him back to him, the quicker we can go after the orc pack."

He went to move Kili when the red haired elf – Tauriel – stepped infront of him blocking the path.

"Let me have him healed before we present him to your father, Legolas. The dwarf has not faulted us directly, being a son of Durin and a curiosity to your father is no crime." She stepped forward, pressing her hand to Kili's shoulder as she continued. "Since when did we become so hostile Legolas, to the point we would let a life rot away in front of us just to appease the King? You saw what he was hit with, he does not have the time."

Kili watched as Legolas' chest heaved heavily, he could not tell if it was in anger or a battle of thoughts swirling in his mind. Finally, Kili felt the blade leave his throat as Legolas pushed him into the grip of Tauriel, who almost hugged him to her body.

"Take him back, I will chase down this band of orc's and meet you there. Then we will go and tell my father together about our prisoner, I'll see what I can do for him although I think it will be little."

Kili felt a deep breath descend on him from above, he looked up to see Tauriels eyes shut, almost as if she was relieved.

"Thank you, _Mellon_. I'm glad to see you can yet still be brought to your sense's."

Kili watched as Legolas smiled a little, bowing to Tauriel. "I forget sometimes that lesser beings cannot survive a simple arrow." He let his eyes drift to Kili who launched forward with a mouthful of curses that turned the ears of other elves around him, but Tauriel kept a firm grip. Legolas just carried on looking amused at him, taunting him. "Once your healed Master Dwarf expect no more kindness, it was just by luck you have been touched by the kindness of the Lady Tauriel today."

And with that he turned, leaping over the wall followed by the remaining elves to give chase to the orc's below. Kili went to move forward again, the longing to follow the dwarves stronger than the pain in his leg. Tauriel tightened her grip, he turned to her, exasperated.

"Please, let me go, I have done nothing to you except be brought to your hall's through force, I have done nothing to you, why keep me here when I should be with my kinsmen."

"I do not agree in keeping you dwarf, I only wish to heal you. If you travelled on you would have perished before you got to the bottom. If I did not step in now, you would be on your way back to a hollow prison cell, the poison destroying your body. Atleast now you can have hope of escape, you cannot escape if your dead."

He stared at her for a second as she nervously inspected his wound around the arrow.

"This is a lot worse than I thought," she looked up at him, worry in her eyes. "We must get you back." She went to move him but he pushed away, turning to the wall but a stronger pain radiated and he let out a cry as he fell forward, snapping the arrow and increasing the pain. His breaths became laboured as he tried to focus. In the blink of an eye he was rolled onto his back, Tauriel inspecting his wound and shouted in elvish to a remaining guard who rushed off into the woods. The pain started to spread up quickly, taking over his chest, he screamed, flailing out. Tauriels hands came down on his arms, pining them down as she whispered calming words into his ear, he could feel the world slipping away around him, he tried so hard to stay focused on her soothing voice, turning he faced her, her lips still whispering as he focused on her eyes. His vision slowly blurred, the pain taking over, and slowly, the glow of Tauriels hair dimmed and he fell back into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Thank You so much for reading I'm glad you guys liked it! I'm extremely happy with this chapter and I hope you guys love it too! Please read, review and enjoy! :) Enough author chit chat - TO THE STORY!**

**~Ladieesailor**

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Tauriel pulled back from the dwarf as she felt his arms go limp underneath the strength her own hands had been putting onto him. She could not lie to herself that his sudden weakness instilled fear in her, this poison was working faster than any she had come across from an orc arrow before.

"No, Master Dwarf hold on!" She pressed her hand lightly to his chest, watching as her hand rose and fell very faintly.

Time was rapidly disappearing and Enerdhil, the elf she had sent to discreetly get help had not yet returned - which meant she would have to get him back herself. Tauriel unsheathed a small knife from her boot, using it to cut a piece of the Dwarf's tunic away. She twisted it and used it to bind his hands together, just tight enough that they would stay that way as she placed them over her shoulders and around her neck. Taking a deep breath she stood up and tested the weight on her back, taking a few steps before hooking her arms around his legs and pulling him up so his head rested on her shoulder and gave her legs free movement, _this would have to do_ she thought to herself.

She started off down the bank, disappearing into the bushes and heading towards the south east side of the Halls of Thranduil, Tauriel knew there was no chance of getting him in through the main gate, even if she explained that Legolas had given her permission to bring him back to heal him they would still inform the King and he would be thrown back into prison and left to die. If he had any chance of survival with the King then Tauriel needed Legolas there to persuade him - so until his return she would have to keep him hidden. She had been irate when she found the dwarves gone, annoyed with herself that she had allowed herself to become so intrigued by them without realising how cunning they were. It was still a mystery to her how the dwarves managed to get the keys from the cellar, or who got the keys for them for that matter – no one had escaped before, so they must have had someone else there to help them. Although she had been focusing on the orc's, she also kept an eye on the dwarves, and she could have sworn if her eyes had not betrayed her that there was someone else with them, someone much smaller, but she did not have time for a second glance.

A soft moan came from her left shoulder, she paused, turning her head slowly to look at the pale dwarf. He looked pained in his sleep, his eyebrow twitching from time to time – she could not supress the small smile rising to her lips, he was fighting the darkness, she had hope yet of his recovery. He had seemed so carefree when they first spoke, even facing years stuck down deep in the prison of her home did not phase him, although now she had come to the conclusion that he was aware that help would eventually come so that evidently explained his calmness. She had found herself so enchanted with the dwarf, she should have attended the party and yet she found herself walking down to them – to him – at first just to check they were there, but yet she found herself caught up in conversation, sitting talking with him was the first time she had wondered out loud about wishing to see the stars again. He sat and watched her so attentively she almost wanted to blush, and then it was her turn to stare in wonder as he described the firemoon. Even after when it was discovered they had escaped and she let her anger dissipate she found herself wanting to help them escape – just like she wished for herself, to see farther lands, she could not think of anything better.

A rustle to her left caught her attention, she swung around, knife unsheathed pointing and ready since a bow was not so easy to do with the dwarf on her back. Enerdhil, the elf she had sent ahead appeared, bow raised and pointing straight at her – on realising it was her he dropped his guard, as did she.

"Enerdhil, you caught me off guard, I apologising for taking stance against you." Tauriel gave a quick bow.

"The apology is also mine, I've caught a few stragglers trying to catch up with the orc pack, I thought you were one of them, I think my years have finally caught up with me, my senses are not what they used to be." He gave her a small smile, Enerdhil was one of the oldest elves she was aware of besides the King – who she was sure used magic to cover both his age and wounds to make himself appear younger. She had always got on with Enerdhil, he never doubted her and always had her back unlike a lot of the young elves now entering the guard.

"Come, pass me the dwarf Tauriel so you can rest." He went to untie the dwarf's bonds when she jumped back, a hand raising to the dwarf's arm protectively.

Tauriel bit her lip, realising how guarded she looked with no explanation why – she had always been taught to hate dwarves, even the older dwarves of the prisoners, particularly their leader she had a disliking too - but this one had her curiosity.

"I am fine, he weighs barely a thing my dear friend, let me just set him down for a moment to check his wound then we shall make haste, I think the secret passage by the south east halls would be best, just so we don't get any unwanted attention." She loosened the dwarf off of her shoulders, hoping Enerdhil did not think anything of it. She set him carefully against a tree, he was sweating quite profusely now, his tunic drenched and his hair amass of curls stuck to his face.

"Yes, the less who know the better." She turned as he nodded, smiling. Another reason Tauriel liked him was because he, along with her agreed that the King did not need to know everything. "I shall go on ahead then if you can manage him. I'll make sure the coast is clear and we will get him into a room as fast as we can, I'll also get Nellas to come tend to the wounds, she is young but she's the best I've seen in a long while." And with that he bowed slightly and headed back into the bushes. Tauriel turned back to the dwarf, removing a water pouch from her pack she used it to wash his face and cool him down a bit. Lifting his tunic up a little she washed the wound – which had darkened dramatically, she had to move now. Tying his hands together again she turned and pulled him back up onto her back, adjusting him accordingly. Just as she was about to run again the dwarf released another low moan, she tried to adjust so he was further up, worrying that she was hurting him when another low moan escaped his lips.

"Tauriel…" he breathed against her cheek. "Tauriel…"

It was only a murmur, if that, and yet she felt a heat stir in her belly, slowly rising to her cheeks - smiling she ran on. Curious of the feeling in her stomach, she wondered to herself why she felt such an affinity towards him. She had been the attention of many elves yet this dwarf stirred feelings she had never felt before. It both worried her and made her sceptical about what was ahead, more and more she did not like the idea of merely handing him to the King. But first she had to focus on healing him first, turning she went into the bushes in the direction Enerdhil had gone, hoping above hope she was fast enough.

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**Kili POV**

Kili disappeared in and out of darkness. There were large, gruesome shapes chasing him and swiping at him – he used all of his energy to dodge them, but they just kept coming back, more and more of them. He was not sure if he could hide much longer. It had felt like he had spent days in the darkness, he knew from the words of Tauriel, the red-headed elf that he was infected with something bad, he remembered at first he felt fine – weak, but fine nonetheless. But within seconds he had fallen and he felt his body slowly slip away from him into the darkness, and now he was all alone in this forsaken gloom being constantly terrorised by the dark looming shapes. He thought of Fili, Thorin and the rest of the dwarves – and of course Bilbo. Had they escaped? Was this injury and torture in vain? He could not bring himself to think of their death, he could only cling onto the hope that they had got away, and that Tauriel had not left him to rot and die on the bridge. He had a feeling that what she shared of her feelings before outside his prison was not something she had shared with many, he could not help but stare in wonder at her beauty as she got herself caught up in her dreams. Her words only propelled him to share his own stories, to blush slightly to himself as she perched on the edge of the step and wrapped her arms around herself as she attentively stared at him with awe, making him stumble on his words as he got caught up in her beauty. He felt a likeness and softness to her he had never felt before, he felt the need to take her right up to the stars themselves and watch her be free. She had appeared trapped down there in the prison, the only thing keeping her alight was her dreams. Kili grunted as the pain grew in his leg, he stumbled forward and landed on his back, the shadows looming over him, taking a hold of his vision. He wished he could have laid eyes on her beauty one last time, it was rare for him to find the beauty in something, and now that he had found it he felt less inclined to let it go.

"Quick! You have to help him please!" Kili jolted up as the words pierced the shadows around him, shrinking them. He looked around wildly for her, he knew it was her voice. Was this the end? Another sharp pain tore through his leg, he screamed, grabbing for his wound and shutting his eyes to stop the tears from falling. He felt a cold grip latch onto him, pushing his hands up above his head and pinning them down. His eyes shot open expecting to see the shadows, but his blurring vision settled on Tauriel, the beads of sweat dripping from her face, a pained expression controlled her as she looked down on him.

"Please Master Dwarf stay still, she cannot heal you if she cannot get to your wound." The words came out of her mouth slowly, he stared as each pronounciation left her lips. He looked down towards where Tauriel had looked, only to see a shadow there, gripping his wound. He kicked out, trying to get rid of it, screaming for it to leave him alone as he started to descend back into darkness once more. He looked for her eyes, wishing to see them one last time before he went back into the darkness. What he did not expect was to have them move to him, she had let go of his arms and grabbed his face and closed her eyes, whispering words he did not understand, the breath of them sweeping his face as she glowed before him, mesmerised, he moved his hand up slowly, weakly holding onto her wrist.

"Open your eyes, Tauriel, I wish to look upon their beauty again." He breathed as a coldness took over his leg, her light spread far across his vision blurring out the shadows.

He swore he heard her let out a cry as she whipped open her eyes and stared down at him in wonder.

"You are back Master Dwarf!" he watched as a smile spread across her lips, her other hand coming across to grab his.

"K-Kili, please." He managed to stutter out, a tiredness taking over him suddenly. "If this is the end, then I am glad I have looked upon your beauty one last time, and it is my wish you know my name at least since I now know yours." He felt his eyelids become heavier, his mind longing for sleep, he done everything to keep them open to look at her a while longer and yet his vision blurred deeper. She moved down quickly, pressing her head lightly to his the smile still across her lips.

"You will be fine Master Dwarf, you have been saved from the poison you now need only rest." He heard a male voice come from behind her, he went to get up, but he felt Tauriel hold him down, her head still resting against his. A lighter darkness came over him, he tried to fight it, if he was truly healed then he wanted to get up, but yet he did not have the energy or need to remove Tauriel out of his way, so he succumbed, her final words following him into his dreams.

"Sleep, Kili, you will not die this day, you will look upon my eyes again soon, I promise."

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**A/N - Hope you guys liked it! Please review, favourite, follow! The plot soon thickens!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Hello lovely people! Thank you so much for all the favourites and story follows! And thank you for the constructive reviews! Makes me happy to hear people are liking this story! This chapter is all Tauriel's POV, I promise some Kili in the next chapter! Really hope you like it! Please let me know what you think! Also quick apology, my eyes are very tired tonight, I've proof read so many times for mistakes so if you come across any my sincerest apologies for it!**

**~Ladieesailor**

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Tauriel sat perched on her seat beside Kili's sleeping form, Nellas had left a while ago to tend to the other casualties of the orc attack – Enerdhil remained with herself. She tried to focus on the dwarf, her heart jumping a little after every eyebrow twitch, or flick of a finger hoping he was waking up, but he remained still, sleeping deeply. She was waiting for Enerdhil to speak, to hear what he had to say, she knew herself that getting involved with the healing process was not only risky but rude to conduct in the presence of a healer doing her best. Nellas did not seem to mind - if anything she looked in awe towards her after, but Tauriel had seen Enerdhil's face when she stood back and she knew that a stern word was heading her way. She could take it no longer, standing up she reeled around to face him.

"Will you end this silence Enerdhil and tell me already what is on your mind." She worded warily not wanting to anger him anymore than she could see on his face.

He pushed himself off from the wall, walking over to meet her stare. "You appear to be very well acquainted with this dwarf to the point you interrupted Nellas and decided to take it upon yourself to heal him. You say he is merely a dwarf and yet you refused to let me take him off your back, the words you used – the part of yourself that you gave to him to spare his life!" His face wrinkled a little as he stared at her with incredulity. "No elf simply gives away a part of their own being and spirit no matter how small without feeling a dire need to save the one in front of them! You cannot say to me Tauriel that you feel nothing for him with the way you have conducted yourself, even now you wait by his side twitching at every movement he makes! This is not healthy for you, you are best to remove yourself from this before you cause trouble."

Tauriel froze, she knew the fear was evident across her face, she could feel her cheeks heating fast as she tried to organise her thoughts into coherent words. There were no feelings – that she could explain. It was true that in their brief meetings he had stirred a feeling in her she had never quite felt before. There was curiosity, and wanting to be free like him to roam the lands beyond here. But there was also a different feeling - when he had said her name in his darkest hour, the feeling his words had stirred as he lay dying that prompted her to read the words that burned into her vision as she tried and succeeded to save him. She was not reckless either, she knew that even if she had a likeness to him there was nothing that could be done. And rather than ponder the idea of what if she blocked it completely, she was Captain of the Guard and she could not be seen as weak.

"I assure you Enerdhil I do not know what you are speaking of, I helped him when I-" she held a hand up, silencing the old elf as he went to argue with her. "-I helped him when I saw his life fade before my eyes, I done what I felt was true, gone are the times where we care only for our own, we both know there are lands out there with people fading and dying everyday!" she turned away from him, not wishing to see the look in his eyes as she spoke. "And yet we sit in these dark caves only concerned for ourselves and our people, we are dying in here Enerdhil, I beg you to see I only want to help where I can before I myself am dragged so far into these caves that I will becomes desolate and useless!" She took a deep breath, clasping her hands together infront of her as she breathed deeply. Never had she shared these feelings with another – although she was glad that above everyone else it was Enerdhil, he wouldn't share it with anyone - she hoped. Through all her thoughts a soft moan infiltrated their argument, she jumped, turning to the bed – Kili was stirring. She looked from Enerdhil back to Kili again, she was desperate to make sure Enerdhil knew she wasn't being traitorous, but she also needed to make sure Kili was okay. Just as she went to open her mouth Enerdhil stepped forward, placing his hand on her shoulder and nodding once to her with a faint smile on his face. "We shall talk later _Mellon_, when our guest is sorted." He left the room, leaving her alone to face the dwarf. He stirred again, but this time he flung forward, eyes wide open and grabbing at his leg, panicked moans escaping his lips.

"Shhhh, Kili." She rushed forward, resting her hands over his own, stopping him from clawing at the cloth protecting his injury. "You are fine now, you are safe."

He stopped, his breaths shallowing as he looked up at her, his eyes widening before his cheeks reddened slightly. Tauriel couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she watched him stifle in his uncomfortableness which prompted a softened glare from Kili.

"Something entertaining you?" he lay back, crossing his arms tight and avoiding her eyes. She knew he remembered what he had said just as much as it was etched in her mind. Her eyes. He wanted to see her eyes one last time, and she had promised he would look upon them again. Tauriel never broke her promises if she could keep them. Edging forward slowly she placed two fingers underneath his chin, pulling his face round a mere inches from her own, staring deeply into his eyes she watched as his widen in return, and his face relaxed from his embarrassment.

"I promised that you would look upon my eyes again Kili, and here they are, for your eyes to bear aslong as you wish." He stared for a long time, Tauriel found it weird within herself that she did not feel uncomfortable or mind for that matter, she got just as much joy from seeing his glisten in the light – it meant he was live.

His hand came up slowly, without breaking eye contact as he carefully grabbed her hand away from his chin and placed it between them his grip tightening.

"I am forever in your debt, my Lady Tauriel, I cannot fathom how I shall repay the kindness you showed me. I have never found myself in the position of being saved by someone other than my kin, I do not quite know what to do." A tinge of the embarrassment that was there before returned, she understood enough about dwarves that they did not enjoy being dependant on others, and she felt only right to remove him from his misery, he had been through enough.

"Please, Kili, I am no lady I am only a warrior that holds the title Captain of the Guard – which does not mean much in the standards of my King, please call me Tauriel." She smilled reassuringly.

"Well, it means a lot to me that you thought to stay and save me when you could have abandoned me so easily, I know we mean nothing to you and your people."

Tauriel sat back, removing her hand from his grip, causing his eyes to shoot up to hers, words dancing on his tongue – but she got there first.

"I beg you are mistaken Kili, I know that under the rule of King Thranduil my people did not treat your people accordingly, but do not tarnish us all with that image. I believe I would be doing myself a dishonour if I did not help where I could. Did you not listen to me before Kili?" she looked to him, the pain in her eyes matching his. She leaned forward grabbing his hand between both of hers as she shifted her weight to the bed.

"I do not want to just catch a glimpse of the stars in passing – I want to live amongst them, I want to be free to roam these lands and to help where I can, you think I want to remain attached to these dark halls for the rest of my very long life? I want adventure Kili! And if helping you is a start then I regret nothing, I'm glad I saved you, I'm glad you are alive right now in this bed and I'm glad that you are in a state to offend me with yo-"

He dropped her hand, and in one swift movement he leaned forward, catching her lips softly against his own as he cupped her chin. A fire, igniting almost instantaneously in her belly burned bright, pushing her to lean into him, and cup his face also. Just as she convinced herself to go deeper he pulled away, meeting her eyes once more. He stared at her for a moment, mirroring the shock in her face – his evidently from her kissing back and Tauriel's from the fact she actually did react when moments before she was convincing herself it was nothing.

"I did not mean to offend you Tauriel, you saving my life means more than I can convey to you right now, and I think that's the only way I can tell you how I really feel in here-" he removed one hand and placed it against his chest as he lowered the other to her hand that rested on his knee. "-I wish nothing more than to see you free, up in the sky with the stars where you belong in its beautiful light, although it does not compare to your beauty in your soul. I do not know if you feel it too, but I cannot remove you from my thoughts Tauriel, even in the darkness you found me and rescued me. I want to rescue you too, come with me please, let me show you the world, let me release you from this cage that you have been confined to!"

Tauriel opened her mouth to spill her minds thoughts - that it was not a possibility and would mean an end to them both by the hands of Thranduil – when her ears pricked up at a distant sound. Someone was coming. She pushed Kili's hands away as she jumped up, her heart sinking a little as she watched his hurt face follow her as she leapt across the room to where Enerdhil had been before. Just as she turned and positioned herself against the wall the door flung open, and Legolas swept into the room, a livid look on his face.

"Tauriel, why have you brought the dwarf to your personal quarters, I bid you to take him to a healer, not hide him in your room, explain yourself!" he swung his bow off his shoulder and placed it in front if him, leaning his weight on it as he glared at the dwarf.

Tauriel had already prepared herself for this conversation with Legolas upon his return, trying to ignore his burning glare she answered. "We did not have time Legolas, he was fading too quickly, I knew if I brought him through the gate your father would wish to interrogate him before saving him and then he would have been lost." She stepped forward, placing a hand on top of his.

"I know you and your father have a quarrel with the dwarves, but they have done no harm to me my friend, I still maintain to save the innocent and that is he. I will kill as many spiders and orcs as you order me too, but I will not condemn an innocent person to death because they resemble someone who offended your father many moons ago."

He removed his hand from underneath hers, pulling back and sheathing his bow. "You forget who you are speaking to Tauriel, you are lucky you are so close to me or you would be kneeling before the King begging for forgivness for your treacherous words right now."

"Do not speak to her like that!" Tauriel turned to see Kili spinning his feet out of the bed as he made to get up.

"Kili no!" she ran forward, catching him just as he collapsed forward, the pain evident on his face as he let out a pained growl. She pulled him up and sat him on the bed again, her mind a flutter.

Legolas snorted behind her as he stepped towards them. "I'll give you credit for your effort to defend her dwarf but you must forgive me if I find it a little funny that you think she could ever want you, she is a strong elf, one of the best Captain's I have ever seen – I think you are mistaking her kindness for love, Elf's rarely love, and if she did, it would not be with the lowly likes of you and your kin."

Tauriel could only gape at her friends outburst, she had never seen Legolas show so much hate before.

Kili pushed forward, causing Tauriel to pin him down again as he spat harsh words in a language she did not know towards Legolas who only mockingly smiled back.

"Legolas, my Prince I ask you to stand outside, I will join you in a moment whilst I redress our guests wounds." She had noticed in the struggle to keep him down the drops of blood that still dripped at her feet, she felt Kili look down also, his struggle against her lessened.

Legolas stared at Kili for a long time before turning to Tauriel and nodding once before walking to the door, just as he went to close it he turned around, he looked at Kili but his words were for Tauriel. "Prisoner, not guest. Once he is healed he will go to where he belongs – a dark damp hole in the ground."

Yet again, Tauriel found herself restraining Kili, she certainly had to have a word with Legolas about his tongue.

"Get off me!" Kili pushed against Tauriel's chest sending her flying back onto the floor of her room. For a moment she stared at him, his eyes not meeting her own, embarrassed slightly she gracefully rolled onto her feet, hopefully hiding the hurt in her face. She saw regret briefly sweep across his before it disappeared. Without saying another word she collected some fresh rags and began rebinding his leg, avoiding his eyes and swallowing the lump in her throat.

"The elf is right, I guess I was dillusional to think I had a chance with you. I guess if you were mine I would be just as mad as he is."

Tauriel paused, blinking slowly for a few seconds before turning to the dwarf. "You think I belong to him?"

"Well don't you? He seems very protective of you I-"

"No, I belong to no one Master Dwarf," she pulled the last knot tight causing him to wince. "If you think so lowly of me that I would let someone control me you are very, very mistaken."

She went to walk away, but he rolled over onto his side and grabbed her hand, pulling her around.

"I am sorry Tauriel, we dwarves do not handle it well when people try to stab at our ego, forgive me please, I did not want this to go downhill so suddenly."

"And what is 'this'?" Tauriel cocked her eyebrow as she stared at him, she noticed the colour had returned to his face which was a good sign he was healing better than expected.

"Whatever you want it to be, you know you have me." he looked at her sincerely, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to read her expression.

She stared for a moment, frozen, It was all becoming too much for Tauriel, between these newfound feelings, that electrifying kiss, Legolas storming in and now the thought of a dwarf pledging himself to her and being presented with an opportunity to make a decision for herself was too much - she could not breathe. She stood back, trying to control her breathing and yet hearing her panicked pathetic gasps penetrate the air.

"Kili, please, just leave it, you know we can't and you know it won't work, I just-"

"No its okay, I get it." Kili's face turned dark, crossing his arms once more as he turned away from her. "I guess I just fell for that charm you elves so easily use over people for your own purpose. I suppose you best go report my whereabouts so I can return to my dark damp hole in the ground, I guess someone else can break you free and take you to see the world cause it sure as hell won't be me." And with that he lay down, turning away from Tauriel and pulling the crumpled sheet over his body. Tauriel made to step forward, a strong hurt in her chest echoing the hurt that was present in his eyes, but she thought better of it and instead she turned to the door to go to Legolas. Maybe it was better if she let him think that way of her, she could save him from the complications that was already plaguing her mind. She pulled the door open and stepped outside, taking another shooting glance at Kili's bunched form, the hurt in her chest only getting stronger.

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**A/N - I promise everything will be okay, kinda, sort of, maybe, possibly? Who knows! I am travelling home next week so the update will most likely be next Sunday, not Friday! :( sorry! Favourite, Follow, Review my awesome readers :) Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - This chapter came out of nowhere, it was supposed to be a meeting with Thranduil and then this happened! Quite nervous about you guys reading it I hope you like it!**

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Tauriel closed the door behind her, putting her feelings to one side as she came face to face with a very angry looking Legolas. Before, she might have just brushed past him and continued the awkward harshness that had taken over their friendship of late but she was exhausted from everything that had happened and she figured it was best to get her lecture now rather than have him hunting her down later.

"Do not give him hope Tauriel, you may not be aware of it but you haven't exactly hid your interest in the dwarf since your little conversation before they escaped. You've saved his life, he is alive and on his way to a full recovery, it's time to end this madness and return your concentration to your duties. Once we tell my Father of the dwarf's return its upto him what is to be done with him, it is not your place to make that decision so I suggest you do not do anything stupid."

She nodded only once, her chest still aching from the hurt she had caused Kili, hearing his harsh words about her simply charming him as he turned away from her. Part of her wished that she had stayed and tried to make him see that she didn't think it could work not because she didn't feel something for him – but because both of their kin would refuse to let it happen, and she knew that if their worlds were against them they would both suffer. The best way to keep him safe for the moment was to make sure the King didn't suspect anything of her – Thranduil loved to play games, and if he held the strings above herself and Kili he would surely make them dance for his own amusement more than anything else. Legolas stepped closer, snapping her out of her thoughts and bringing her back to their conversation.

"We used to be so close Tauriel, please tell me why this weighs down on you so much I hate to see you this way." Legolas' voice had changed – softened almost, he hadn't spoken to her like this in a long time, for years he had just barked orders at her or started an argument with every view she shared - it made her wonder a little what was coming next. He stepped forward till the distance between them was closed and placed his hand on her shoulder, bending a little so his eyes met hers. He was right she thought, they used to be close, back when Tauriel was a young elf striving to one day fight for her people. Legolas had stumbled upon her in a clearing outside of The Halls attempting to fight a tree with two poorly sharpened blades she had stolen from a scrap heap of broken weapons - it was the only place she could go to hide from her Mother who persistently tried to push her towards healing. He gave her his own that day and taught her to use them properly over the coming years, and in those years they shared everything between each other, they snuck out of The Halls to explore as far as they could, hiding amongst the tree's and sharing their deepest wants and needs. Although they never went out of Mirkwood, Tauriel had loved it all the same, it was one of the few times she had felt free. His help with her fighting, and the skills she picked up thereafter was what had gotten her to where she was today – Captain of the Guard. But over the last few years their friendship had thinned, Tauriel spent the majority of her time in the forest, clearing them of filth whilst Legolas – being the experienced fighter he was – carried out the personal agenda of his Father, which Tauriel began to find more and more distasteful since upon every return he became less and less of the man he was before - he was turning into his Father, strict on the people and putting the ones who did not agree with his Father in their place. She felt the King was slowly dragging her people into the ground and she was almost certain that one day if he had his way there may be a day when the elves of Mirkwood do not walk the lands anymore other than the few allowed out to protect the proximity around them. Legolas carried out his Father's orders without question, when Tauriel would have had many, and it was in that they began to separate, she did not feel comfortable confiding in him anymore, and that had not changed in this day.

"It is nothing, I simply wish to protect the innocent although I have a feeling once your Father hears of Kili being brought here that will be the end of him." She paused, trying to calm her heart from the thought of it. "I have no power to protect him, I am helpless because I am just a lowly Silvan elf in these forsaken halls where I cannot be my own person Legolas, you say you do not wish to see me this way and yet this is all I have been for these last years – if you truly cared you would have noticed before someone else came along and grabbed my interest." She rounded to face him now, the beginnings of a fierce fire roared in her gut. "The elf in you I knew long ago is gone, I fear to confide in you because I know that if I express to much fear or opposition to a single word of your Father you would have me punished for it in your own way, whether that's swapping me to a guard position inside The Halls or even worse far away on the borders where the days are long and empty, I have not forgotten many moons ago when you had me babysit your Father to try and make me see how hard his decisions are – well I have seen his decisions, and they are not the ones that you would have agreed with before. As your Father has changed so have you, and not for the better! So if you really hate to see me this way you would do something about it rather than punish me for it, you would help me save Kili rather than condemn him. I can control my feelings for him but I cannot control my anger if something were to happen to him."

She stood facing him for seconds, minutes she could not tell. She only felt his icy stare quench the raging fire in her. "So you do have feelings for him." Tauriel froze, had she really just said that aloud?

Legolas turned abruptly and began walking away from her, "Come Tauriel let's get this over with." He commanded over his shoulder.

Her words had fallen on deaf ears as she had suspected, she let her shoulders fall, the breath that she was holding she released as she stepped forward, taking one more glance at her door and beating down the urge to speak to Kili again, before going round the corner and descending the long staircase to King Thranduil. There was a fear beating in her heart she had never felt before, a fear of what would become of her after this day, because she was slowly coming to the conclusion that she could not live this way anymore, something had to change.

For a while her and Legolas walked side by side, he seemed intent on looking at anything other than her, she was fine with that – but the pending conversation ahead of her made her nervous and for the most part scared, she had to save Kili somehow, she could not let him suffer inside these walls like she had. She owed him that much atleast for getting him into this mess in the first place, she should have ignored Legolas and had a healer brought to her instead of taking him back. As for her feelings - they had gone from a slight interest before to something she had never felt ever in her body or even mind for that matter. The feelings his words stirred within her - and that kiss, the feel of his lips against hers even lightly had sparked something within her she had never felt before, and she was finding the more she tried to push Kili away in her mind, the more she wanted to be closer to him in reality, somehow she had to get him away, she knew she felt deeply enough for him to make sure she achieved that atleast. Legolas jolted infront of her suddenly, cutting her path and thoughts off. She went to walk around him, not wanting to entertain him by partaking in his games but he simply leaped to the side and blocked her again.

"No matter what happens in here Tauriel, do not breathe a word, if I can save the dwarf I shall try, I will do this for you so you do not lose your position among your kin by leaping to his defence if it makes you that happy – but if I cannot do anything, then I bid you stay quiet, there is only so much I can rebel to Tauriel, the last time I questioned my Father he had me sent far away from here, from my people, from those I loved," he paused, looking her briefly in the eye before looking away again. Tauriel always avoided this topic with Legolas, maybe when she was younger when she was in awe of him there could have been something, she wasn't naïve she was aware of his feelings, but now she knew that was something that could never be after the downward spiral their friendship had taken. "He had to punish me for questioning his authority, there are many reasons I have changed over the years Tauriel, you do not think I wish I could be young and carefree like you? You think I was not looking out for you all these years as you made it up the ranks? My father knew my weakness – he knew it was you and he wanted to eradicate that from me, he always said love is weakness, love isn't real – I think my Mother's death instilled that into him, and if he needed my agreement in a particularly nasty task he needed only to mention your name and a threat and I was at his knee's offering my service. I guess he won in the end, he got me to go and fight his battles for him and let me push you away."

Tauriel sucked the air into her chest as she stepped back a little, grasping onto the banister beside her. "Legolas, do not tell me you sacrificed our friendship to keep me safe from him, do not tell me you have made me feel distaste towards you all these years on purpose."

"Alas, I cannot tell you that – Tauriel," he ran a finger across her cheek before sweeping her hair over her shoulder. "My Father knew of my feelings, and he made sure he diminished them within me, for no matter how much I knew I was doing his bidding to keep you safe and happy, I also began to hate you for my own torture, and I guess that in itself destroyed our friendship also – that part is my fault not his, I simply stopped trying with you. But these last few days since the dwarves arrived I saw a spark of fun arise in you again, you were like that young elf I found in the meadows hacking at dead branches on a tree with two blades that could not even cut a leaf!" he chucked lightly, inciting a small chuckle from herself – this was the elf she knew. This was the elf she once called her best friend. "And I grew jealous Tauriel, as I watched you sit and listen with wonder at his stories - I saw the same face that listened to mine before." His eyes grew sad as he looked to the ground, she wanted to comfort him, now he was beginning to shed light on the truth, she wanted to let him know that she understood, but all she could do was rest a hand on his shoulder, showing nothing more in her eyes than understanding as he looked to her. "Tauriel, I know we cannot repair this fully, but I can atleast try and save the dwarf no matter how much his presence offends me, at least if he means that much to you. How much he means is your own business and I will not involve myself in that – but I have to stress, if I cannot save him then you must not let the King see your feelings, do not have yourself punished alongside him for then my resolve will truly break and I fear we will both be dragged into the darkness if I see him lay a finger on you." He reached his hand up and rested it on the one she gripped his shoulder with as he looked to her for an answer. How could she not forgive her dear friend? For that is what he was and as she watched the heaviness of his words lift from him she was seeing him return again. After everything he had done even without her knowledge she owed him this at least. Thranduil never liked having such a lowly elf as herself named Captain of the Guard, she always felt wary of being alone with him and she always felt the need to watch her back - although now she knows Legolas always had her back and for that she owed him.

"I promise, _Mellon_, you have my word, I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate this, and I apologise for your suffering because of me – I should of seen it and I did not. Maybe there will be a day again where we are close and I can confide in you like I once did, promise me Legolas do not let your Father dig a deeper hole between us than he already has." She looked at him hopefully but he only removed his hand, looking away wistfully behind him towards his Father's chambers.

"I have a long fight ahead of me to be released from his grasp, as much as I hate what he has done to our friendship I love him for other things, he is my Father and its not a case of choosing between you both because I would choose my Father, my King – he is family Tauriel. What I want now is our friendship to improve, but do not ever ask me to choose you over him Tauriel because I will always pick my kin, through him I serve them and that's how it will always be my dear friend – you understand?"

She did, it was plain in words – if she chose to rebel or leave or do anything against the King's word then the friendship was lost, but if she stayed within a respectable distance of the line then not all was lost. Her feelings for Kili were new – and these feelings told her she had to keep him safe, but in a different way she felt that for Legolas too, she wanted to keep Legolas safe. And if agreeing to this helped lighten his guilt then she would gladly agree.

"I understand Legolas, just remember that you are your own person, do not let him control you too much – let him see I do not bother you anymore and get some of your freedom back, we are entitled to it regardless of his words."

He nodded slowly, beginning to walk again towards the large oak doors infront of them. "I think we should start to get rid of that hold right now – this conversation with him shall be interesting." He quickened his pace, bracing his shoulders up making himself look proud, Tauriel fell in step beside him, not able to stop the small smile creep across her face having finally witnessed a glimpse at her old friend returning.

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**A/N - Well I hope you liked it! I really wanted to update this week, I've just spent the whole day travelling back to Ireland so apologies for any grammatical errors I've read it over and over again I think I got them all. For future tidbits of this story I think this conversation had to happen so overall I'm happy I done it - I just hope you guys liked it too!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Okay so sorry this is uploaded a bit late, but its like 5000 words long because I couldn't bring myself to split the chapter in two! So I don't think my next update will be for two weeks or so, my little mind needs a break to make sure the next chapter is good! Thank You SO much for all the favourites, follows and lovely reviews that you left, they really really help with my writing and to be honest everytime I get an email notification it kicks my butt into typing mode! Really hope you like this chapter :) Thank You again for following and being awesome! As always read and enjoy! **

**~ Ladieesailor**

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The walk was only short to the great oak doors that led to King Thranduil and his grand abode, but to Tauriel it felt like it took an age to get there. She was nervous without a doubt, even after the revelations that had just passed between herself and Legolas. The relief she had felt before to have her old friend by her side started to disappear as she got closer and closer to the aura of the King. It would take a miracle to get Kili out alive once he was within Thranduil's grasp and now she wasn't so sure that Legolas was the kind of miracle that she was looking for. An urge to turn around and run back to Kili took over her suddenly, she regretted how she had left him before with him feeling unwanted by her, more so now that she was closer to his fate being decided - there was a small corridor leading off before Thranduil's halls that would take her back to her quarters – she could run, get Kili and get him to safety far away from here before the King threw him into the dungeon to rot whilst he decides how best to use him. She glanced towards the corridor as they approached, no one was guarding it and the lack of lighting cast a deep shadow over it that would easily hide her from view – she could run now.

As if hearing her thoughts Legolas' hand curled around her wrist, pulling her a little closer as they stopped in front of the guards. He turned to her, a warning look upon his face as he turned her towards him, Tauriel looked straight into his eyes, trying to disown the thoughts she had just had.  
"I know what your thinking, I think we both agree your not the best at hiding all the thoughts that bounce around in your head Tauriel." She shifted her eyes from his, there was no point in denying what he so obviously knew, as much as their friendship had been tested he still remembered her inside out. She looked to the dim corridor once more and back to Legolas, begging him with her eyes to let her go, for she could not muster the words. He only shook his head lightly as he frowned at her. "That will not work, I suspect my father already knows we are here and for you to run he would suspect something and only have you pursued. Let me try to reason with him, remember _mellon_, keep calm in here, do not let him suspect anything and I will try my best to secure the dwarf's release." She nodded once, glancing one last time to the corridor. She should trust Legolas, he was right. Running would achieve nothing, a word with the King would also achieve nothing, but the Kings son could possibly swindle the King's mind set long enough to get Kili out - she had to protect him by all means possible. With that they both turned towards the oak doors as the guards on the inside swung them inwards, Legolas took the lead as they ascended the stairs up to a porch that looked over the elven halls down below. Tauriel took a deep breath, composing herself and returning her mindset to her calmly one held when speaking to Thranduil as Captain of the Guard. They arrived on the porch, Legolas gave a small bow as Tauriel dropped quickly to one knee, bowing her head to Thranduil who sat loftily on his throne above them.

"I expected you both to be back sooner, it can't be that hard to re-capture some dwarves, is their some trouble I am to be made aware of?" Tauriel looked up as the piercing eyes of Thranduil met her own before they moved onto Legolas. "Arise." His hand swept up as he himself stood. Tauriel returned to her feet, taking her place by Legolas' side as she watched the King descend down from his throne. She could do this, she could be the elf she was before she met Kili if it insured his safety, regardless of how much he hated her right now – she fixed a firm blank stare on the King as he stopped in front of them.  
"Legolas, Tauriel, do you care to inform me of the happenings of these past hours?" He flicked his eyes to Tauriel, she didn't know whether he expected her to be the one to speak but she remembered her promise to Legolas – let him do the talking.  
"We went after the dwarves, they made their way down the River that leads onto Laketown in barrels, but by the time we joined them by the south gate they were set upon by an Orc pack, whose attention also turned to us upon our arrival."  
Thranduil cocked his head a little to the side. "How many casualties were there, how many elves?"  
"Four of our own." Legolas looked away, he never took the deaths of elves well. Although it was an emotion he hid well that Tauriel knew only she could recognise.  
"And of the dwarves? I have had none brought before me or to the dungeons so I am to assume you succeeded in ending them?" He drawled, Tauriel bit back her anger as a small smirk graced Thranduil's mouth. Legolas turned back to face him, his lips pursing into a thin line.  
"Why would I kill the dwarves? They were prisoners under your own scrutiny, not because they were guilty of anything, I didn't have the right-"  
"You had every right to remove more of their scum from this earth, even more so because it was that fool Oakenshield – he shall fall like his Father and Grandfather, we probably would have done the rest of them a favour by embedding an arrow into his tiny head." He sneered. "Dwarves favour nothing more than treasure and keeping it to themselves – even if it is not theirs to keep." She watched as his face darkened, his eyes focused intensely on the ground, caught in thought. She took this opportunity to glance at Legolas, his eyes bore into his Fathers figure a strained expression across his face. This was it, she thought, he was going to have to tell him about Kili, she took a deep breath before exhaling quietly – trying to calm the thoughts of Kili from her mind. She was strong enough, she could remain impartial.  
"Father, what has happened that has drove you to this madness over Durin's Folk? I understand about the jewels they hold ransom from you, but are they really worth the death of them? We fight orcs, spiders – enemies Father. These dwarves are nothing without the mountain, letting them carry on with their quest will probably serve better, the drago-"  
"What do you mean carry on with their quest? You did not stop them?!" Thranduil hissed, flying forward to Legolas, causing Legolas to stumble back a little as his Father towered over him. Tauriel averted her eyes, this was it.  
"After the initial surprise of the Orc attack we chased after them, but between fighting the orcs and attempting to stop the dwarves they escaped – except one."  
Thranduil straightened, a small smile curling along his lips. "I would have rather that you brought me all of their heads with at least an arrow embedded but I guess one will do. Is he alive or dead? In fact it doesn't matter, bring me him, or his body. Either way I can put him to great use in making Thorin return what is rightfully mine, then we can discard of him, a happy accident if he still breathes." Tauriel tried to hide her shock at these words as she watched the King curl his fingers around one another, a mad grin taking over his face as he stepped away slowly, walking towards the steps up to his throne. She couldn't stay silent anymore, she had to defend Kili, she had to make the King see sense. She stepped forward, reaching a hand out towards the King - the words forming on her tongue. But Legolas swooped over, knocking her hand down as the King turned towards her, curiosity and rage both present in his face. Before either she or the King spoke the words that were dancing on their lips Legolas stepped in between them, bracing his chest to his Father.  
"You say you hate Thorin because of his love for gold and the darkness he brought over this region and yet you are no better. I told you to help them when they were set upon by Smaug and yet you turned away that day, withdrawing our people slowly from this world, determined to give help to no one. The King I knew – the Father I knew would not have hid away from this world like a coward, you are just as sick as his grandfather was, those jewels control you even now with a dragon sleeping on top of them, too long you have crushed darkness upon your people. It ends now Father. Yes, a dwarf was struck by an arrow, but it was not us that took him, it was the orcs, they carried him away whilst I chased them down, you will forgive me if I chose to kill the orcs that were intent on killing our people rather than the ones carrying a dwarf with no meaning to us in any reality."

And with that Legolas turned, ignoring his Fathers mortified expression and glancing to Tauriel, he nodded for her to follow him. Yet again hiding her shock at Legolas' outburst she took one last look at Thranduil, whose eyes were trained on Legolas, all expression had been wiped from his face – which if anything scared her more. She spun, running to catch up with Legolas as he raced from the hall. As the oak doors shut behind them she pulled Legolas back, stopping him in his tracks. "Legolas, what happened in there, that wasn't strictly the plan." She took a brief moment to let the relief wash over her that Kili was still a secret for now and in that - safe. But something was now brewing in Legolas, and she had to calm him before it turned into something dangerous.  
"Did you not hear him? Did you not hear the poisoning words from his mouth? 200 years ago this Kingdom would never have treated dwarves with such distaste as we have shown, I see now the error in my thoughts on them. He has poisoned us all against them when we should have helped. Tauriel." He rounded on her, clasping her shoulder in his grasp. "Go to the dwarf, patch him up as best you can and get him out, I will ride to the secret entrance to the east of your room and meet you there at sunset, do not be late. My father is a smart man he will see through my lie within time."  
She blinked, staring at him for a moment, was this a dream? Only moments ago she was certain on Kili's capture, and now there was a chance to save him, from none other than the elf she least expected it from. "Legolas I-"  
"There's no time Tauriel, _Si bado, no círar_!" He pushed her towards the darkened passageway that lead back to her room, she ran a few steps forward when Legolas called on her again, she turned to him, impatience already on her mind at the prospect of saving Kili.  
"I hope one day you can forgive me for everything, I see now I was only at the call of a mad man, but I stand by what I said before, I cannot give up on my father, and I hope to cure him of this illness and obsession, but I fear there is yet more turmoil in store for us because of this dwarf, I only hope you make the right choice in returning to us, your people once you get him back to his own kin. We both know Thranduil will fight for what he wants, I do not wish to see you on the other side of my arrow dear friend. I see your feelings for him, but maybe they are best kept for after they wake the beast below the mountain and deal with him. You both have different paths to follow for now."  
Tauriel could only stare, her mind barely processing his words. For their lack of friendship in recent years he was making up for it in advice now. But right now Kili's safety was all she could think about. Nodding once, she simply whispered across the room to him, "_Ú-moe edhored, Legolas_." And with that she ran off, praying that Kili had done nothing stupid in her absence.

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**KILI POV**

He paced, backwards and forwards over and over. The pain in his leg had increased but he felt a little less useless just by being able to walk on it atleast. He did not know how much time had passed since Tauriel had left, but since the door closed behind her a guilt weighed on him, getting heavier as time trickled on. He was foolish to be angry at her, she was probably just as scared as him if she felt anything of what he felt for her, he had rashly snapped at her, throwing her hospitality back in her face when he knew she was going to get in a lot of trouble for helping in the first place. Unfortunately for him he wasn't going to get a chance to apologise, there was no doubt that they had already told Thranduil of his presence now. He had thought of running, but with just walking limply causing him a great deal of pain his leg wouldn't last even a few sprinted steps – and on top of that he had no clue whatsoever where in Mahal's name he was. If he had any chance of escape he needed to harbour his energy, and save it for the right time. He had to focus on getting back to Fili, Thorin and the rest of the company - he had to be there when they opened the door into Erebor. Footsteps outside turned his attention to the door, listening carefully he realised they were running – the first of the guards he realised! Looking around the room he tried to find something to defend himself with, if there was only one for now he could fight then off easily, maybe giving him a head start, he realised he needed to atleast try, what was he thinking just sitting and waiting here! Too much time underground was turning his head. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw something glint – a sword! Running forward he picked it up, it was a little light but it would be enough at least to fight his way out if he had to. He flung himself behind the door just as it opened, at first no one appeared, but he heard them slowly walk forward, taking his chance he leaped forward, dragging the elf back onto him he pulled the sword against their throat, ignoring the agony burning through his leg and their choked cries.

"Kili what are you doing, its me, Tauriel!" he looked down, her identifiable red hair was a flowing mess across his chest. He groaned, of all the people that was sent to arrest him of course it had to be her. He pushed her across the room, she spun, pulling her daggers out and taking stance against him.

"I will not come with you Tauriel, I will not rot down here whilst my kin need me, I'm leaving and you cannot stop me." He kept the sword raised against her, no matter how wrong it felt to him. He still could not ignore her beauty, his eyes lingered on her lips, remembering their sweet kiss. He shook his head, banishing these distractions from his mind.

"Is this how you greet your rescuer? By threatening her with her Father's sword?" Tauriel stepped forward slowly, lowering her daggers. Kili held onto the sword harder, not dropping his guard against her – what if this was a trick? "You really do think lowly of me if you think I've come here to lead you to your death, has nothing of late showed I would not so easily hand you over?" she reached past the sword and placed a hand on his shoulder, she brought her throat to the tip of the sword, pushing a little pressure down on it that made him almost drop it in an instant as he saw a thin line of blood appear where she had placed her neck – but he stayed there, frozen to the spot, wondering what she was upto.

"If you think I've come here to lead you to your death, if you think I meant nothing that I said before then cut my throat right now." She stared into his eyes, and he into hers. They were just as beautiful as when he had first awoken after she healed him. They glistened even in the dim light, pleading with him to believe her. He pulled the sword away, dropping it beside him.

"If you have not come to throw me in the dungeons then why have you come back, surely your King is now aware of me here, is this not dangerous for you? I didn't think I mattered anymore since you took it upon yourself to decide we wouldn't work." His anger from earlier surfaced, he ignored her flinch at his words, he had been hurt too.

"Kili, I do not know what to think of us, but I do know it would kill me to see you thrown in a dungeon and have the life squeezed out of you by its darkness, it places an ache in my heart that I could never forgive myself for. You do matter to me Kili, I do not know why but you do. I have this burning heat in my stomach at every thought of you, which I think is what you call feelings - well if that's what it is then that is what I have for you." Her cheeks reddened a little as the intensity in her stare increased. He could only part his lips a little in surprise at her words, staring with incredulity at her. Could this be true?

"Tell me I'm not dreaming," he whispered, stepping forward and taking her hands in his own. "Tell me this is real."

Before he knew it she had bent down the little distance to bring herself in line with his face, his breath hitched as he looked to her, a small smile spread across her lips as she leaned in, pressing them against his lightly. His head went light, a strange feeling struck his lower belly as his brain commanded his hands up through her hair, he pulled her against him harder, to which she eagerly responded, encasing his face with her hands as she opened her mouth against him, letting her sweet breath enter past his lips as he too parted them to deepen the kiss. As quickly as it had started she stopped, causing him to pull back and look into her eyes, removing his hands from her hair and placing them onto her waist.

"I'm sorry," she breathed. "This is all new to me, these feelings I-"

"It's okay Tauriel," he brought a finger up, stroking her cheek, trying to hide the disappointment from his eyes that the kiss had ended so quickly. "We will make sense of this in due course, unless of course Thranduil decides to send some guards to arrest me soon." He chuckled, trying to make her laugh, but instead she jumped back, horror spreading across her face.

"_Rhiach!_ We must go! Come quickly Kili, time is running from us!" she went to grab his arm but he pulled back, staring at her.

"What are you talking about Tauriel, what have you done?"

"We did not tell the King of your presence, but he is smart, he will work it out that you are here an-"

"Wait what? I thought that was the whole point of your miserable Prince's anger, to tell the King I was here I do not understand, is this a trick?"

Tauriel raised her fists to her head, a low growl rumbled before she looked upto him once more. "Firstly his name is Legolas, and the situation on that we will discuss later, and secondly, I swear Kili if I have to prove my feelings once more I will banish them from me and toss you into a dungeon myself!"

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief at her strong assurance, although he felt ashamed a little that even after everything she had done already he still doubted her. Stepping forward once more, he took her hands into his own and placed his head against her nose. "So what is the plan, how do you intend to sneak me past all the guards?" Just as she opened her mouth to answer another voice came from the door.

"Oh she doesn't intend to do anything, all the intentions will be mine." They both whirled around, Kili stepped a little infront of her, wanting to protect her from whoever it was. Standing before them was a tall elf, his hair fair and his face soft – besides the anger flaring from his nostrils. Judging by his similar appearance to Legolas he only had to assume this was the King. Tauriel pulled him back behind her, gripping his shoulder so he could not move again. He looked to her to argue only to be met with a look of fear and horror begging him to be quiet. He rested his hand on her back, returning his look to Thranduil – this was not good.

"Imagine my surprise," he stepped into the room, kicking the sword Kili had dropped to one side. "-at my son's outburst against me in my own hall's over a petty dwarf, although seeing as he is accompanied by the same elf who poisoned him against me in her childhood I hope you see why I wasn't that surprised." He glowered at her, his complexion darkening. "I thought I had driven you from his mind, brought him back to his senses, made him see what the world really was like - not the fantasy you painted for him!" he spat at her as he pulled himself up close to her. She flinched back against Kili, he went to move to the King, the anger boiling over in him but she kept her grip on him, so he remained there rooted to the spot, wishing very hard that there was an axe within arm's reach.

"I came here to talk, to maybe persuade you to make him see sense again before I would have to do it myself and yet I find you in a very compromising position with the same dwarf that apparently didn't make it to my halls." He reached forward in quick succession, grabbing Tauriel by the throat and throwing her against the wall, she hit it with a resounding thud, the air released from her chest as she hit the floor, Kili launched at the King, but before he met his target two pairs of arms wrapped around his own, pulling him back and onto his knee's. He roared and cursed at them, fighting hard against them but it was no use, their strength was far superior to his own although he hated to admit it. The King turned from Tauriel to him, he stepped forward, grabbing Kili's chin and forcing him to look up at him.

"I was told you were taken by an Orc pack, lucky for me my sons lies stopped fooling me before you were even born. I see he atleast told the truth about your injury." Kili didn't have time to respond before the Kings foot came down on his wound, causing him to grit his teeth as he screamed, the pain almost blinding him. When he finally did remove his foot Kili collapsed forward, hanging between the two guards as he tried to regain his breath and blinking back the tears forming in his eyes – he was stronger than this.

"Leave him be!" Kili snapped his head up to see Tauriel launching towards him, only for the King to grab her by the throat, pushing her against the wall and off her feet.

Kili struggled as hard as he could, watching helplessly as the King hissed words in her ear that turned her even paler than he thought possible for her. She clawed at his hands, gasping for air but the King only laughed, lowering her so her feet could balance a little on the ground, teasing her.

"First you try to ruin my son's life, and now you choose to help a dwarf and betray your King, I think I've finally found a way to make sure you leave my son alone for good, treason is very punishable indeed Tauriel." Kili watched as his grip tightened, causing her to let out a small cry.

"Your hurting her! Let her go!" Kili turned, biting down hard on one guard, causing him to loosen his grip a little which was all he needed, swinging round he let the full force of his good leg connect with the other guard sending him flying. He lunged forward onto the King, gripping his robes and pulling him down to the ground, taking Tauriel with him. Kili rolled over, grabbing the sword he had earlier discarded and brought it to the Kings neck pausing him in his attempts to get up.

"Release her, now." He stared into the King's furious eyes, after a long while he finally let go of his grasp on her neck, causing her to drop away, gasping for breath. He looked to her, to check if she was alright – but that turned out to be a big mistake. The King grabbed Kili's wrist, forcing it up and round causing him to drop the sword and cry in anguish at the new pain shooting up his arm – no sooner had the King unhanded him than the guards had seized him again. Tauriel atleast was out of the Kings grasp. Kili looked towards her, she was slumped against the wall, holding her neck as she looked up towards the King now towering over her with the sword swinging loosely in his hand. He gulped, maybe he hadn't helped enough. She pushed herself up onto her feet, not breaking eye contact with the King.

"Legolas lied to you because your anger and spitefulness scared him, you have always scared him. Scared him into submission, scared him into a life he does not want. You took his freedom and destroyed him like the rest of us - that, is why he lied to you. You may have ruined our friendship, but I will not let you ruin what is left of him. You should feel lucky he still feels anything for you." She spat at the King, Kili felt a little pride grow in his heart as he watched the fierceness return in her. "One day you will snap out of whatever has a hold on you my King and you will regret everything you've ever done to him and the rest of your Kingdom."

He reached forward, grabbing her cheeks and silencing her. "I decide what happens round here not you, you do not decide the fate of my prisoners," he hissed, turning to the guards. "Take the dwarf to the deepest darkest part of the dungeon and leave him there till I decide what to do with him, I think its time I dealt with Tauriel once and for all."

Kili looked up to Tauriel, the fear in her eyes mirroring in his own as the guards began to drag him away. "No! You cannot do this, this is madness she is one of your own!" He wrestled with the grips on his arm, not breaking eye contact with her as he was dragged roaring from the room.

"Oh Dwarf," he heard the King chuckle, "what makes you think I care." He walked over, smirking at the dwarf as he slammed the door shut in his face, the last thing he saw was Tauriel, falling back against the wall and sliding down, the light disappearing from her eyes.

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**Translations! The elvish I use is the Sindarin translation :)**

**_Mellon_ \- friend**

**_Si bado, no círar! - _Go now, before its too late!**

**_Ú-moe edhored, Legolas. - _There is nothing to forgive, Legolas.**

**_Rhiach! -_ Curses!**

**Really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I found it quite hard to write and I fear you may see that! Will be giving myself a break for a bit so next update will be within the next 7-14 days depending on my writing! Love to you all for reading!**

**~Ladieesailor**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Hey guys, I'm really sorry I haven't updated in like 16 days but work most definitely got in the way of any downtime for myself at all! I've spent my day off writing this chapter for you guys, Thank you so much for all your favourites and follows and reviews, I cherish every single one of them! You people are amazing and I'm so humble my story has even just a little bit of attention! Hope you enjoy this chapter, once again I am so sorry that this was uploaded late and once again please feel free to review and favourite away! Much love to you all!**

**~Ladieesailor**

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Legolas paced back and forth, careful to keep himself hidden from the all-seeing eyes around him, if he was correct in his calculations then the fourth watch should be on their way to their posts on the border and might find it a little suspicious – Prince or not – that he was randomly hovering by the side of the Halls. He had arrived a few minutes before and taken refuge amongst the tree's just above the hidden eastern passage, he had been delayed in grabbing all the provisions he had been seeking out for the short journey ahead by none other than Enerdhil, his oldest guard asking about the status of the orc pack, the old fool of an elf who even after Legolas and other elves amongst the guards recommendation would not put down his bow and join the other elders on his Fathers council – he knew that Enerdhil's talent with a blade hadn't perished at all over the years, but at the same time he was a wise man in touch with everyone and loved by everyone within the halls, and Enerdhil was certainly someone that Legolas would trust to help his Father make decisions. As of late, his Father seemed to be making a lot of choices by himself, and a lot of them revolved around Erebor and what was held within. Legolas had never seen these gems his Father consistently talked about, but he guessed they had to be enrapturing enough to steal his Fathers attention from all else. A noise below shifted his attention, ducking he drew an arrow and trained his eyes on the bush that concealed the doorway – this had to be Tauriel, but Enerdhil had mentioned slaying Orc stragglers on his way to finding her before, so he aimed the arrow, just in case it was another straggler. The bush ruffled and out sprang a deer, it paused for a second, looking right at Legolas before carrying on its rushed journey further into the forest. Legolas furrowed his eyebrows as he jumped onto the forest floor below, Tauriel was impeccable at time keeping, and even if there was a hold up of any sort it had well past their agreed time to meet – something was wrong. Cautiously he moved forward through the bushes from where the deer had sprung, hacking stray branches out of his way as quietly as he could, finally he came to a small clearing no bigger than three feet wide - before him the wall of the hall's so carefully concealed that to a stranger of these lands it would appear to be an overgrown, filthy moss covered hill, but he knew better than that. Tracing his fingers along it lightly he traced where his memory told him the door was, and sure enough his fingers pushed through the dirt – gripping hard he pulled, dragging the thick stone door open as far as the dishevelled dirt on the forest floor allowed him. With just enough breathing room he squeezed through into the darkness - although that did not bother him, his eyes were old enough to guide him through anything. Slowly stepping forward he sheathed his bow, following the passage that he knew would bring him out by the dungeon if he took the right amount of turns. Tauriels room was above the dungeon, so if he knew her as well as he thought he did then he knew she would take the dungeon route to their agreed meeting place. A commotion ahead broke his attention on his thoughts, perking his ears he silently leapt the last few steps and into the shadows of the entrance to the lower dungeon. Before him was two guards who in particular Legolas never got on with due to their intense cruelty whenever they did get their hands on a prisoner – his Fathers personal guards. And being held between them was the dwarf that was supposed to be escorted by Tauriel – he could feel the colour drain from his face, if the dwarf was here, then where was Tauriel?  
"Get off me or I swear by Mahal's beard I will unleash hell upon you myself!" Legolas couldn't help but smirk as the small dwarf wrestled with them, if he could commend the dwarves on anything it was their commitment to a fight no matter how many odds were against their favour. He turned from the scene before him, judging by the dwarf's constant struggle they would be there for a while, and if Tauriel was in trouble he had to get to her, he had no likeness for the dwarf – he could rot down here for all Legolas cared, he had caused nothing but trouble for Tauriel - she was much better off without him. He turned away from the struggling scene before him, the elves were only entertaining the dwarf, soon, they would get tired of his punches and toss him in a cell. The dwarf was his Father's problem from now on, he had to go find Tauriel. Just as he reached the stairs leading back down a resounding slice hit the air, Legolas turned to see the dwarf now standing in front of the guards, one of their elven blades pointed at them both, the teasing had disappeared from their eyes.  
"She is one of your own, how can you let him kill her? How can you leave her in there?!" the dwarf spat at them.  
Legolas leaped forward from the shadows without even thinking, only reacting to the words of the dwarf. The guards looked up at him causing the dwarf to turn to look also, which was a mistake on his part, in one swift movement they knocked the blade from his grasp and grabbed his arms, cementing him back in between them once again to the curses of the dwarf.  
"Having a little fun are we?" Legolas done his best to put a harsh smirk on his face, hoping it would cover his panic in what the dwarf had just said. "I see your still as weak as before Master Dwarf." He looked down at him, bulging his eyes quickly at the dwarf as he went to open his mouth, thankfully, he caught interest in Legolas signal enough to slowly close his mouth again, looking at him with a furrowed brow. Legolas decided then and there the quickest way to Tauriel was to get all the information from the dwarf, and if that meant freeing him for the mean time then so be it.  
"I've been sent to retrieve the dwarf by my Father, he wishes to speak with him."  
"But my Prince your Father-"  
"I will not ask again!" Legolas cut them off, stepping closer till he was mere feet from them. "He thinks the dwarf has information on something personal to him, now you can either let me escort the dwarf to him or you can go explain to him that you mistrust his only son and have taken it upon yourselves to waste his time."  
Legolas watched as the guards looked to each other, an unspoken conversation in their eyes.  
"If you don't mind, we would like to accompany you back to the King, he would be expecting us back anyway."  
Legolas nodded, turning and beginning to walk towards the stairs leading up above so they could not see the frustration on his face. If Tauriel was with his Father like he suspected then the last thing he needed was his guards there as well, there was only one thing for it. Groaning inwardly as he quickly came to terms with his decision he spun, grabbing one of the guards and throwing him against the wall, before he even got to the other one the dwarf had already lunged his entire body at the remaining guard, knocking his head hard against the wall before he slumped to the floor. Legolas grabbed the keys to the cells off the waist belt of the closest guard, running over to the nearest one and unlocking it.  
"Quick, they won't be out for long, get them in here." He ran back to the two unconscious guards, grabbing one of them by the arms and began pulling him towards the waiting cell.

"Forget them!" Legolas turned, meeting the dwarf's angry stare before he ran off towards the stairs. Legolas sprinted after him, easily catching up with him and grabbing his arm – stopping him in his tracks. The dwarf turned, yanking hard against him but Legolas kept his grip firm, he was well aware what the dwarf had said before about harm coming to Tauriel, but he had to find out what was really happening.

"Before we go running into the halls do you care to fill me in?" he gave the dwarf a pointed stare, hoping he was hiding his fear.

"We don't have time for that! Your Father is going to kill Tauriel!" he pulled against Legolas again but he strengthened his grip, this was absurd.

"You are mistaken dwarf, my Father is many things but he is not a killer of his own people, he may be fierce in punishment to her but he could never-"

"I thought that too, until he told me he didn't care that she was one of his own as he slammed the door in my face. If you were there, if you saw Tauriel's eyes as he said it she looked broken, like she had given up. If you want to stay down here and ponder over whether or not your Father is a killer of his own people then please be my guest," he yanked his arm out of Legolas' grip. "but I'm going to save her from that monster."

He ran off up the stairs, not sparing a glance back. Legolas could only watch on as his thoughts clouded in his head. Could his Father – the King – really kill another elf?

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**KILI POV**

Kili raced away, barely sparing a thought for the blonde elf. Focusing his mind he tried to remember which way the guards had dragged him but the sheer panic of what was happening to Tauriel right now clouded his mind. At the top of the stairs he took the left, vaguely remembering being flung right when the guards brought him down. He ran for what felt like an age before stumbling out into a big hall with a few elves milling around who hadn't yet noticed him frozen to the spot, he stepped back slowly, not bringing attention to himself before turning and sprinting back the way he came, obviously not that way then. He carried on running past the stairs, deciding to ignore what he thought he remembered and going on sheer feeling. This way brought him onto a more promising path, the passageway was poorly lit and damp, he bent down as he ran, when the guards dragged him from the room and down to the dungeon he had kicked at the earth, digging his feet in trying anything to get back to her – if this was the right passageway then his destruction should hopefully be evident. He squinted, trying to see without much success, he moved closer to the ground running his eyes over every inch of the floor still seeing nothing. Just as he was about to stop and re-evaluate where he was his foot dipped into the ground, sending him flying forward into a crumpled heap on the floor. He bit down on his lip, trying not to let the pain of his wound become evident to anyone close by. Slowly he got up, feeling forward with his hands, there were deep crevices of unsettled mud everywhere, this was the right place! Ignoring the flaring pain in his leg he sprinted forward, feeling the wall for a door. Finally his hand fell away from the wall and onto a soft wooden pane, without hesitating he fumbled for the handle, finding it he flung open the door and stumbled into the room, his heart stopped in his throat – it was empty. He fell to his knee's as he fisted his hands in his hair, if Thranduil had dragged her elsewhere how in Mahal's name was he going to find her. He looked around, the plainness of the room striking him – no one lived here.

A terrified shriek pierced the air suddenly, causing Kili to turn as he sprung to his feet - his heartbeat pounding loudly in his ear as a fear set about him. It was Tauriel. Sprinting out he followed where the scream had come from. Another door presented itself close by, this time he just threw himself against it, breaking the frame as he came to a stumbled halt infront of Tauriel bent over on her knee's with her left arm twisted behind her back by Thranduil as he held a long dagger high above his head. Kili moved quickly, launching himself at Thranduil's torso as the Kings eyes flicked up, a quick motion of shock hit his face before he masked it again, Kili collided hard with him, sending them both flying against the wall. Kili rolled away from Thranduil as he flailed about amongst his robes, attempting to detangle himself. He looked upto Tauriel, terror on her face as her eyes met his.

"Kili, you should not have come back." She let out a low sob, bringing her hand up to stifle it. "Please run whilst you can this is my battle."

Kili went to move to her, a need to comfort her overwhelmed him, but instead a firm grip took ahold of his neck as he was pulled back and slammed hard against the wall, Thranduil's face came a mere inch from his own as he brought the dagger to his throat.

"Let him go!" Kili struggled to see past Thranduil as he saw Tauriel fly towards them, launching herself onto Thranduil's back and pulling him back - loosening his grip and pulling the dagger back, just enough that Kili successfully broke Thranduil's grasp by bringing his forearm down hard on his now weakened arm, sending Thranduil flying back with Tauriel still clenched to his back and Kili down onto the floor as he tried to regain his balance.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, you have betrayed your people!" Thranduil pulled the dagger back as he launched Tauriel off his back as she let out a winded gritted scream, sending her flying into Kili as he got to his feet causing him to stumble back as he took the full force of her weight against his chest. Kili immediately pushed Tauriel behind him pining her body to the wall, ignoring her plea's for him to run, Thranduil was going to have to go through him first before he could touch her.

"Kili..." He heard her voice in his ear as she weakly struggled against him, Kili suspected from her dazed eyes that Thranduil had thrown her about abit before he arrived since her focus and strength were rapidly disappearing, he looked around the room, trying to find something to defend them with yet there was nothing. He could only watch as Thranduil tossed the dagger into his other hand, flicking it around before settling it at a point towards Kili.

"You dwarves are poison," he hissed as he edged closer, Kili tightened his grip on Tauriel as her body sagged behind. "If I could I would have every single one of you brought before me so I could slice your heads off and rid the world of the greed of dwarves. You came in here, threatening me in my own home, turning my own Captain of the Guard against me – so you will forgive me if I see fit to end your life to stop this poison spreading." Kili could only watch helplessly as Thranduil thrust the dagger forward, aiming straight for Kili's heart. He tightening his grip on Tauriel, wishing whole heartedly that he could kiss her one last time as he shut his eyes, refusing to see the glee on Thranduil's face when his dagger reached its target. But it never came. Kili opened his eyes slowly to see Thranduil frozen in his lunge, the dagger mere inches from his heart with a knife pulled against his throat by none other than Legolas.

"My son," for once, Kili heard anguish in Thranduil's voice rather than coldness. "Have you too fallen foul of the poison these dwarves have so intently spread amongst these people? How can you hold a knife against your Father, your King?"

Kili looked to Legolas, a battle clearly raging in his thoughts as he pulled the knife tighter.

"The only poison in these Hall's is your own Father, these gem's you obsess over have poisoned your mind to the point that if this dwarf had not intervened you would have killed one of your own." He pulled Thranduil back away from Kili, signalling with his eyes to the door.

"Take her dwarf, and get her as far from my Father's grip as possible until I figure out how to cure him of this madness, the man I knew tolerated dwarves and would never be so blood thirsty for his own. I promised myself to keep Tauriel safe and the only way I can see that happening is if you take her with you."

"NO!" Thranduil thrashed out against Legolas but his grip held. "Legolas do not let them go, they must be destroyed, their poison must be ripped from this earth, don't you see son, they are a threat!"

"Only a threat to your mind, Father." Legolas muttered as he pulled him back again. "Go right as you leave here, there is a small staircase leading up to a cavern, at the end of it you will find a wall of leaves and vines, get yourself through it making sure to shut the passage off again - then head south east, this will take you to Erebor."

Kili pulled Tauriel forward, he only cared for her safety now so he was in no mind to argue with Legolas. She fell against him, her eyes barely staying open as she walked forward with him weakly. Kili turned back to look at Legolas, the pain of reprimanding his Father still burning across his face. Kili nodded once at him as he met his eye before leaving the room swiftly, shivering slightly as he thought of what was to come for Legolas – he didn't like the elf but he had respect for him atleast since he was now holding his Father prisoner so they could escape. A soft moan from Tauriel brought him back from his thoughts. He pulled her face round attempting to look into her eyes but she could barely keep them open, he stopped for a second, bringing his hand up to check her head for any damage but as he swept his hand across her forehead a large red smear traced behind his hand. He paused, pulling his hand away in confusion, it was covered in warm blood, where was it coming from? He looked down at himself, checking over wondering if the dagger maybe had hit him before Legolas had stopped his Father when his eyes fell on Tauriels side, a dark patch was spreading where a large gash was struck across her side.

"No," he whispered. "Tauriel?!" he spun her round to face him but she barely reacted to his words, she was sweating profusely now as she fell down, he fell with her, catching her weight and pulling her against his chest.

"Tauriel?!" he shook her shoulder, stirring her slightly. He blew out a sigh of relief at her movement, it was something at least that she wasn't yet unconscious. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" his hand shook as he brought it to her cheek.

"I-I didn't exactly get the chance." she breathed out with a small smile on her lips, her eyes once more fluttering shut.

"No, Tauriel stay awake!" He pulled her face up, placing his forehead against her own. Closing his eyes and refusing to let his tears flow he pushed himself up onto his legs, his wound screaming under the weight of her body but he didn't care, he had to get her to safety and find a way to heal her wound before it was too late. Staggering forward and gritting his teeth against the pain he moved on up the passage towards the lingering staircase, just as he took the first step a tall figure came hurtling down, stopping abruptly as they seen Kili.

"What in the name of these Hall's is going on here?"

Kili groaned, this was all he needed.

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**A/N - Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Finally be getting away from Mirkwood now, its about time the story moved on! Sorry to end on a sort of cliffhanger, promise to update as quick as I can! Hope you enjoyed reading! Also, apologises for any grammar mistakes - I don't use a BETA and my eyes are knackered from looking over it all!**

**~Ladieesailor**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - I want to get back to Friday updates, so here you go like 4 days later another chapter! Its a long one, about 4000 words - hope you enjoy! Read, and enjoy! P.S Translations at the bottom!**

**~Ladieesailor**

* * *

Kili stared at the she-elf before him, quickly coming to the conclusion that there was no lie he could possibly tell that could get him out of this. He could only imagine the picture he was creating of himself – limping along, barely holding up Tauriel as she continued to bleed onto him. He looked down at her, disappointed with himself that he was doing an extremely bad job of saving her, he owed her so much for his life already and he was beginning to fear he would never get to repay her. A muffled gasp came from above him as the elf flung herself down the remaining steps, sweeping the hair back from Tauriel's face as she caressed her cheek.

"_Nín maethor!_" she cried, as her hands moved down and hovered above Tauriel's wound. "What happened to her? Why are you carrying her away from this place?"

Kili watched as the elf's face came to her own conclusion, a dawning horror spread slowly from her eye's as she backed away – he cursed himself for remaining quiet for so long when he should be doing everything he possibly could to save her.

"I haven't harmed her, its complicated and I know very well even if I told you the truth you wouldn't believe me. But Tauriel is in danger, we both are-" he chose his next words carefully, hoping against hope that she would help. "-and under orders of Legolas I am to get her away from these Hall's, she is no longer safe here and, as you can see she has very little time." The elf continued to look at Tauriel as Kili was speaking, the redness that was in her cheeks before had all but disappeared and was replaced with a sickly grey, she looked up to him finally, a rise of questions in her eyes.

"You don't remember me do you?" a small smile touched her lips before vanishing quickly. Kili screwed his eyebrows together as he looked at her face, trying to remember it, he had seen a handful of elves upon his arrival, but no one as young as she appeared to be. He went to open his mouth to speak but he could offer nothing, decidedly he closed it again, blushing slightly that he did not remember her.

"Tauriel and Enerdhil had me heal you, I must say you had quite a kick on you." She chuckled dryly, as she moved forward, pulling the remnants of Tauriels bodice away as she looked at the wound.

"Uhm, sorry about that – from my side of things you were a very unappealing shroud of darkness." He tried hard to remember her now he could place her and yet the only thing he could remember were Tauriels eyes – so bright they were as she healed him, and now here she was lying on deaths door.

"I'm guessing the reason why you are taking her away is to do with the King finding out about you, myself and Enerdhil did mention it was a bad idea but she wouldn't listen – she was focussed completely on saving your life – you should feel honoured an elf would go to that extreme for you."

Kili gave her a weak smile, hiding the pain he felt in her words, the way he viewed it he had caused nothing but bother for Tauriel, he was so intent on saving her he ignored her and stood by ready to die by Thranduil's hand as she bleed out behind him. If she died, he could never forgive himself.

"Please, if you're a healer, can you help her? I could never forgive myself if-" he stopped, choking on the final words, thinking them was one thing but he could not bring himself to say them.

She stared only for a moment before plucking Tauriel from his grip, he went to protest but she cut him off with a furrowed look.

"Having her lie on her back isn't helping her wound, nor your own!" she looked down at his own wound which had reopened.

"Please, let me hold her still, I am strong enough to support her." He begged with his eyes, not caring how desperate he seemed, he could not face being parted from her even if it was only by mere inches.

The elf nodded as she placed one of Tauriel's arms over her shoulder, leaving the other free for Kili, rushing forward he pulled her into his side, wrapping his hand tightly round her waist, he looked over to the elf, realising he didn't quite know where to go. "We can't stay here." He simply stated, she nodded in understanding.

"There's a place we can go that's well hidden about a quarter of a league outside of the entrance above, seeing as it's a hidden unguarded entrance we will have no bother getting out. Lucky for you Master dwarf I've just returned from tending a minor injury on an outpost." She removed her cloak a little, showing a bulging sack wrapped tightly around her waste.

He let out a shaky relieved breath as they stepped forward slowly together towards the stairs, if the she-elf had everything she needed to heal Tauriel then there was hope yet.

* * *

**TAURIEL POV**

Tauriel walked, the drapes of her dress billowing against her in the wind of the bright day surrounding her. She breathed a sigh of content as she took in her surroundings – vast fields full of the new Spring coming in, flowers and the glowing sun as far as she could see. It was beautiful in every way possible to her – it was a place she wished she could belong too and it was a place she had visited often in the very few dreams she had experienced in her life. The last two times Tauriel had set her eyes upon this place was once when she was younger, she misjudged a jump from a tree and got a very nasty head wound, whatever the healers treated her with she was asleep for 4 days, and the second was in battle when a spider got to grips with her and squeezed her so tight she passed out and into her dream land for almost a full day – if Legolas had not aided her by slaying the very beast that held her she would not be alive today. She willed her mind to remember what could have brought her here and yet nothing revealed itself. Furrowing her eyebrows she carried on walking down towards the tree line, hoping to escape the bright sun, for it was bringing an ache to her head.

"_Tauriel, ned Eryn Lasgalen_." A soft, yet powerful voice arose from behind her, she whirled around to be met by a fellow she-elf towering far above her. Tauriel brought her hand to her mouth, covering the low gasp she made as she took in her beauty. Her flowing golden locks danced lightly in the wind joined by the ends of a dress of the purest of whites that Tauriel had ever seen – It clung lightly to her body as the lengthy material flowed with the whispers of the winds, both captivating and enthralling Tauriel. There were many beautiful elves in the Halls, but nowhere near as breath-taking as this. Tauriel moved her eyes finally back up to the elf, a look of wild bemusement on her face making Tauriel blush slightly – she had been very rude in her staring.

"I am Galadriel, of Lothlorien." The elf bowed slightly to Tauriel, who on upon hearing that name immediately dropped to one knee, bowing her head as far as her body allowed her.

"My Lady Galadriel forgive me, I have heard many stories of you and your beauty but yet this is the first time I have laid my eyes on you, I hope you forgive me for my rudeness." Tauriel stayed down, mentally slapping herself for not at once respecting one of – if not – thee most well-known elf throughout all the elven settlements in these lands.

A hand came to rest upon her chin, pushing it up so she met the eyes of the Lady Galadriel who was still smiling at her.

"My child, I think you have more worries than respecting me." Tauriel stood up slowly, still captivated by the smile that never left Galadriel's lips as she stood up with her. "You have made a brave choice in leaving your home although I understand you did not have a choice - your choice to leave with the dwarf is what will shape your destiny whether that be good or bad."

_Kili_. His name sprung instantaneously into her mind, flooding her head with the memories of the last few hours. Legolas, the meeting with Thranduil which subsequently led to Kili being dragged away as Thranduil turned his anger on her, beating the hope from her and torturing her with words of the darkness and death that she was bringing upon the Hall's in protecting the dwarf – then, somehow Kili came back, he came back for her. She remembered the feeling of her heart stopping as she watched Thranduil bring the dagger to Kili's neck, she launched at him, but he flung her off, and the dagger! She brought her hand to her side, pulling at the dress to find the source of the dull ache now returning to her body with her memories.

"Yes, you were hurt, although if I am not mistaken you are being taken care of right now." Galadriel came to her shoulder, smiling once again as she bowed, walking on ahead of Tauriel as she smoothed the dress back down again.

"Wait where are you going? Why were you here my Lady?" Tauriel went to move after her but found she could not, her feet stayed sewn to the ground below, she looked up helplessly towards Galadriel as she came to a stop before the edge of the woods.

"You are about to embark on something very big Tauriel, you are going to change this world both for better and for worse just simply for the choice of choosing the young dwarf as your companion – although the outcome of it is still unknown." She walked back now towards Tauriel, her hand came out slowly to rest upon her cheek.

"I have worried about the King for some time, he is not the great elf I once knew but he too is woven into the future you now control with your decision. One person can change many things in a world as large as our own, what you have to do is make sure you change it for the better Tauriel, do not let hate into your heart, I feel whatever has captivated the King to posess him so much against you for merely aiding the dwarf will soon pass, a decision you alone can make can free him of the misery of the darkness." She bent down slowly, planting a lingering kiss on Tauriel's forehead. "I have come here, to warn you of the importance of every move you make Tauriel, every single move will have an outcome that will shape this land in the years to come, I trust you to be a wise elf who will always follow her own heart above any thought or word said against your own true belief. I will be with you if ever you need me young Tauriel, maybe one day our paths may cross in reality, but until that day I wish good luck on you, no mere elf would take on the decision you have to look for a better place in these ugly times, I have every faith in you." She stepped back from Tauriel, turning back and heading once more to the trees.

"If I pick to go with Kili, will it be a mistake? Will I bring pain to my people?" Tauriel voiced her fears before the fear of them itself stopped her, she wanted to leave the Hall's, but if this decision weighed down on the land as heavily as Galadriel said she had to make sure she did not bring pain to her own people.

"If you do not go with him, you will only bring pain to yourself, you will eventually draw back so deep into the Halls from grief and regret that light would not bestow upon your face again – follow your heart Tauriel, do as it tells you for there is no truer voice."

A sharp pain stabbed into Tauriel's side, she doubled over barely hiding her scream of agony, she turned to her left yet no one was there – looking down a pool of warm red liquid began pouring from a long gash across her waist for the most part.

_It is time now Tauriel, remember – if you need me you will always find me in the light. _

The words of Galadriel filled her mind as Tauriel saw once more the beauty of the Lady - the dim light around her blossomed, enveloping her beauty onto the fields around. She disappeared into the woods with one last glance at Tauriel, but Tauriel barely returned it before the pain brought her down to her knee's, tears spilling from her eyes as she tried to contain the pain. Another voice began to filter slowly into her thoughts as a heaviness once again dropped onto her eyes.

"_It's not working Nellas, she is in pain, she won't respond to me!"_

Kili! His face filled her vision as her eyes finally came to a close, he stood plainly in front of her, nothing but a smile graced his lips as he stared into her eyes, his arms reaching out to her crumpled form, the feeling of pain quickly left her as he held her in tight against his body, a feeling of comfort commanded her limbs of which she had never felt before.

"Oh Kili," she pressed her head against his shoulder, a smile spread across her own lips as she thought of the words of Galadriel. "I choose you, I choose all the dangers of this world over the safety of the Halls, so long as I get to face those dangers with you." The pain was non existent now, a calmness swept over her as her vision darkened and yet the warmth of Kili still stayed with her as she slipped away from this land in her dream, back to the unknown.

* * *

**KILI POV**

Kili never let go of Tauriel's hand from the moment they arrived in the small hidden clearing Nellas had directed them too. She immediately lay Tauriel down before loosening the bag of supplies she kept around her waist and opening it up once it was on the floor. He fell down beside Tauriel, taking her right hand in both of his as he looked on uselessly whilst Nellas set to work immediately, crushing kingsfoil between her expert hands before compacting it into Tauriel's gaping wound. He watched as Tauriel carried on sweating, that, and her limp breath was the only thing he could watch to make sure she was alive, every struggled breath had him on edge, praying it was not her last. They sat in silence like this for some time, Nellas packed more and more of the weed into her side as fast as she could as Kili sat, holding her hand and stroking her cheek, hoping above all hope she would survive this.

"I need to warn you now Kili, when an elf becomes injured to the point of blacking out, they tend to go somewhere, like their own safe haven world. We elves do not sleep, nor do we dream, so when our bodies black out, we retreat to that one place in our minds we feel safe – that is where Tauriel is now, when I begin to slowly work with the athelas she will begin to wake, she will be in a lot of pain, and she probably will not be aware of us. I need you to hold her down, speak to her, comfort her – just keep her from thrashing out or else she could just worsen the wound."

He swallowed the ill feeling coming over him as he nodded once to her, not wanting to look at her for fear she would see the fear in him. As scared as Kili was he was proud, and only those closest to him saw his fear.

"_Anor valthen, togo laugas lín nestad enin gûr hen!_" Kili could not understand what Nellas was saying, but the words sunk into Kili's muscles, relaxing him as he could not help but stare at her as she threw herself into healing Tauriel. In his eyes her beauty did not match Tauriel's, but she had a beauty in her own right in the way she conducted her healing, and Kili could not remove his eyes. Tauriel jerked suddenly below him, a cry of anguish crawled from her throat as she flung herself up from the ground, eyes still shut.

"Keep her still Kili!" he snapped out of it as Nellas' voice pierced his ears, throwing himself forward and grabbing Tauriels arms, he pinned her to the ground.

"Come on Tauriel, don't leave me here without you," he whispered, pleading with her as she thrashed about.

"_Ceven dhaer, anno vellas lín enin 'raw hen!_" Nellas carried on un-phased as Kili struggled to keep Tauriel still, it was like she was waking from a nightmare, but yet stuck at the point between waking and realising it was a dream, his heart ached for her as the pain consistently flashed across her face.

"It's not working Nellas, she is in pain, she won't respond to me!" Kili cried out to her, not caring now whether she saw the fear in him or not.

Almost instantly Tauriel began to still below him, a relieved expression smoothing across her face, he looked towards Nellas alarmed but she only smiled back as she continued to focus on healing.

"Oh Kili…" Tauriels small voice was like music to his ears as relief flooded him, a sob escaped as he took her face in his hands, pressing their foreheads together.

"She is still in there Kili, do not think she is waking, she has a little bit left to go."

He didn't respond to Nellas' warning, instead he flopped onto his side, exhausted as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close, careful not to disturb Nellas. He buried his head amongst her hair as he rested it against the crook in her neck.

"I choose you, I choose all the dangers of this world over the safety of the Halls, so long as I get to face those dangers with you." she breathed into the air above them.

Kili smiled to himself once more at her dream state whispers, a warmth taking over his belly and his heart.

"_Suil Annui, erio thûl lín i faer hen!..._" Nellas fell back, the light that had built slowly around Tauriels wound had disappeared, leaving a thin red line stretching from the middle of her torso to the side of her waist. Kili sat up slowly, not removing his eyes from Tauriel's face.

"She will be okay?" he asked.

"The wound healed well, she should come round very soon, alas it has taken a lot out of me," she gave a tired smile to Kili as he looked up. "There is a small river not far from here, I will go and fetch some water, Tauriel will need it for when she wakes, and I'll need it to clean out your wound!" she gave him a pointed look before standing up and walking towards the exit of the clearing. "You will be safe in here, not many eyes have seen it and it is dark, Tauriel will be fit to move in the morning but until then you both should rest."

"Thank you, Nellas – I know you did not have to help but you did, and I am eternally grateful for it."

She bowed once to him, shouting back as she left the clearing. "My job is to heal, that includes every being whether my King thinks so or not."

He smiled to himself as she walked off, Kili was sure if he actually got to be in the company of elves he would grow to like them very quickly, so long as they weren't influenced by the King.

"Kili?" he jumped as Tauriel spoke softly below him, he bent down as she fluttered open her eyes, he wrapped his hands round the back of her neck, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs - as she got her bearings her eyes settled on Kili's. With happiness exploding inside of him he lent forward, catching her mouth with his and held her close, her hands came up instantly and held his own face. He broke away, looking into her beautiful eyes once more.

"I chose you, before." He breathed as he removed the drying tear marks from her face as she looked to him, perplexed. "You said you choose me over the safety of your halls as long as you faced the dangers of this world with me."

"You… you heard that?" she gasped.

"Yes, I did." He chuckled. "But I chose you before, the moment your voice pierced the darkness I was succumbing to in your room as you healed me, the moment I looked into those beautiful eyes of yours that shine like the stars above – that was the moment I chose you. I will never let you go Tauriel, I will fight by your side for every battle, and I will never, ever let another sword touch your body again."

He turned his face towards her hand that was still absently stroking his cheek, he caught it with his lips and kissed it lightly, one after the other as he revelled in the elation of her living. She stilled his face between her hands suddenly, piercing his eyes with her own as they glistened with tears, she pulled his face down and crushed his lips with hers, wrapping her arms around his head as he pulled her up in one swift movement onto his lap. She did not allow the kiss to break, she only deepened it as he wrapped his arms around her – being careful with her wound – and held her close. She slowed the kiss down to a lingering few pecks before resting her head against his, pulling him in tighter.

"_Orthach 'uren ir tirach enni, Guren min gaim lín - Meleth nín." _She breathed against his lips as she smiled. "Never let me go Kili, Promise me that? I never want to go without the warmth of your spirit so long as I live."

"I promise, _Meleth nín." _He smiled as he felt her freeze in his grip.

"You speak my tongue?" she asked bewildered.

"Very few words," he admitted. "But from stories my Mother would tell me, I always remembered the ones about love… _Le uivelin."_

Tauriel tightened her grip on Kili as she held him closer, he too tightened his grip, although he still felt like he was not close enough to her.

"Oh Kili, now I know your soul I can never let you go." She whispered into his ear before kissing his cheek softly.

"Nor you, Tauriel. We are safe from the King now, its just us against the world." She pulled back slowly resting her head once again against his, she went to open her mouth to speak when a rustle came from the bush to the left of them. Tauriel stood up immediately, Kili marvelled at how quickly she was already healing as he stood up with her, protectively taking a step infront of her. Nellas appeared out of the bush suddenly, a perplexed look upon her face.

"We have visitors!" she breathed, both fear and excitement on her face. Kili peered round, his heart skipping a beat as three hooded figures walked out from behind Nellas. They removed their hoods swiftly, the one nearest Kili letting out a choked cry – standing before him was his very own brother Fili, and two more of the company - Oin and Bofur.

* * *

**Translations - as before they are all sindarin text!**

**_Nín maethor! - _My Warrior!**

**_Tauriel, ned Eryn Lasgalen -_ Tauriel, of the Woods of Greenleaves**

**_Anor valthen, togo laugas lín nestad enin gûr hen! -_ Golden Sun, may your warmth bring healing to this heart!**

**_Ceven dhaer, anno vellas lín enin 'raw hen! - _Great earth, may you give your strength to this body!**

**_Suil Annui, erio thûl lín i faer hen! - _Western Winds, may your breath lift this spirit**

**_Orthach 'uren ir tirach enni, Guren min gaim lín - Meleth nín - _You lift up my heart when you look at me, My heart is in your hands - My Love**

**_Le uivelin - I will always love you_**

**A/N - Well I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Onwards from Mirkwood! Feel free to review and follow the story, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**~Ladieesailor**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - Hi guys! Sorry I have not updated in months! I briefly explained on my other fic that unfortunately due to my job as an engineer sometimes I have to go away for certain lengths of time on ships with no signal. Sorry that impacted my posting. But here, have another update! Sorry its late! As always read, enjoy, review! **

**~Ladieesailor**

* * *

Kili stared at the three dwarves before them, from what he could count in his head it had been just under 2 days since he had been separated from them, and in that time they had become almost unrecognisable. They were wearing strange clothes that to Kili were very unbecoming of a dwarf, they were rich in material but that was as far as the awe in them went. They were far too long for the dwarves, and they had the excess material that bagged around their bodies held together by just as large belts.

"Kili?" he looked up as Fili spoke carefully, who in turn shied away slightly when Kili met his eyes. What was he thinking? This was his brother who he never thought he would see again! Laughing, he raced forward and pulled Fili into a tight embracing hug, trying not to swallow the copious amounts of fur that emblazoned Fili's shoulders.

"My brother!" he grinned as he pulled back, gripping him on the shoulder tight. He noticed however that Fili still seemed on edge and was not returning the happiness that was bursting from him. "Fili, whats wrong? Are you not happy to see me?"

He finally looked Kili straight in the eye, clapping his hand ontop of the one Kili had placed on his shoulder.

"I did not think I would find you alive Kili, As soon as we got to Laketown I got Uncle's permission to come back, to try and negotiate with the elves your safe return," he looked away once more, many words playing on his lips. "-we should never have left you in the first place, we should have given ourselves up and stayed with you-"

"No Fili," Kili warned with his voice. "If you came back it would only have complicated our escape, we were lucky to get out alive never mind trying to get anyone else out."

"We?" Fili questioned.

Kili stepped back, revealing Tauriel standing in a fighting stance – one hand covering her wound and the other holding onto a small dagger. He smiled to himself, even when she had been close to death she was still ready for a fight despite her condition. "Tauriel along with Nellas," he signalled to both Tauriel and the stilled elf whose eyes flitted amongst the new arrivals, "Nellas healed me when I was taken back to the Halls, and Tauriel did her best to try and keep me from being seen by the King but unfortunately he found out, this as you can imagine didn't put her in good stead with the King." He turned back to his brother whose face displayed both dismay and anger, but Kili did not let this deter him from pushing on. "I could not leave her to die Fili – it was a simple choice in my eyes."

Fili growled, switching to the tongues of their folk. "Kili, how could you make such a stupid decision, if you had a chance to escape back to us you should have taken it! I knew you had a stupid infatuation for the she-elf but I didn't think it would stretch this far! We have been climbing blindly back from Lake Town to find you, avoiding that pack of orc's for the fear that three of us alone could not take them on – knowing that we would need our strength to help you escape if talks with the King turned sour." He took a step away from Kili as he shook his head. "My brother would not have waited for her," he pointed a shaking finger at Tauriel, who like Nellas stared in absolute confusion at the words pouring from Fili's mouth. "He would have given his everything to get out of there, he wouldn't have cared about some stupid sh-"

"HER NAME IS TAURIEL!" Kili bellowed as he lunged towards Fili, fists raised and all of the force he could muster behind them.

Bofur quickly jumped into the middle of them, taking the brunt of the force that Kili put behind his fists and pushed him back. "Enough, the pair of you, we did not come here to fight and alert every living thing in this forest to our whereabouts!"

Kili stumbled, forgetting about his injury for a moment and catching it at the edge of a small ditch. He fell back as a cry escaped his lips, he landed hard against the solid ground, winding himself as his hand flew to his wound, where he could feel a steady stem of blood push through his fingers. In the small amount of time that had passed in his fall, Nellas had snapped out of her shock and flew to Kili, pushing a perplexed Oin out of her way.

"Kili!" He turned as Tauriel too had flung to his side, sheathing the dagger back into her boot and pulling his torso up onto her knee.

"Kili, your wound has reopened slightly," Nellas spoke as she pried his fingers away and inspected the wound. "I do not think it will require my full healing abilities, some Kingsfoil packed tight into it for a few days should do the trick – and no more arguing will help as well." She glowered over at the other three dwarves, who had slowly stepped forward, concern for Kili etched clearly on their face.

Nothing more was said as Nellas reached into the bushes and plucked a handful of Kingsfoil, rolling it between her hand and using the juices to mould it together before pushing it into the wound.

Kili screamed against his bared teeth, gripping Tauriel's arm as Nellas relentlessly kept pushing the Athelas further in until the bleeding slowed. White spots of light filled his vision as he drew in deep breaths, the pain slowly subsiding. Tauriel brushed his hair off of his face as she whispered quiet words in her tongue and stroked his head with her free hand.

"I need something to bind the wound, anything?" Nellas voiced aloud to the group.

"Here," Fili used his sword to slice a wad of fabric from his overgrown tunic, walking over he handed it to Nellas. "Can I do anything?" he asked her, his eyes meeting Kili's.

"Take his leg and elevate it so I have enough room to pass the fabric under and hold it in that position until I finish."

Kili finally got his breathing under control, loosening his grip on Tauriel's arm he looked away from Fili and up to her, flashing her an apologetic smile. She bent down, pressing her lips against his forehead as she spoke. "It seems the world is already against us Kili, even the ground has shifted itself to bring you pain."

He laughed against her, as he carefully moved himself so he could look into her eyes properly whilst also making sure he didn't upset Nellas as she worked. "I was kind of hoping that when we were fighting the world it would be me heroically defending you from an orc that had almost got one over on you, not because I lost my footing and fell backwards into a ditch."

Tauriel's melodic laugh was cut short as Nellas pulled down tight on her final knot, causing Kili to grit his teeth in pain once more.

"Can he walk?" Tauriel voiced to Nellas, her brows furrowed as she looked towards his wound.

"Only one way to find out," Nellas signalled to Fili to lower his foot, lifting herself from his side and standing infront of him she held her hands out to Kili. "Come Master Dwarf we do not have all day."

He took both of her hands in his own, using her sterling strength to pull himself up onto his leg. He took a small attentive step, the pain was there but it was dulling down to a stiffness. Letting go of Nellas' hand he walked around the small enclosure a few times before giving her a nod of approval. Tauriel had watched him closely for any sign of pain or twinge, and he made sure he kept his face straight – he wouldn't put it past her to suggest for him to rest and heal a little more, but they did not have the time. There was only so long that Legolas could have held the King off, and to be honest Kili was extremely surprised that they had not heard any kind of guard formation heading their way.

"It's fine, a little stiffness but that is to be expected?" he raised an eyebrow to Nellas who silently nodded, both to him and Tauriel who carried on looking at Kili with concern.

"I think its time I return to the Halls, before anyone has noticed that I am gone, I have a feeling your escape will have involved a few guards getting hurt in the process." She gave Kili a pointed glare, before softening to a smile. She stepped closer to him and enveloped him into a tight hug. "Look after her, Kili," she whispered to his ear. "She will walk blindly into anything for you, even if her life is at risk."

Kili took the final moments of their embrace to wipe the panic from his face at her words. Looking over everything in his mind that Tauriel had done for him so far he could see what she meant – Tauriel had gone above and beyond for him, to the point of betraying her own King. There was no guessing what she would do if it came to fighting the enemy. He would deal with that later, for now he had to deal with his kin who were all standing by the passage in the bush from where they had came looking at him expectantly. Whilst Nellas said her goodbyes to Tauriel he walked slowly towards them, taking care with his leg and looking discreetly for anymore bumps in the ground.

"You love her, don't you." Fili's anger had disappeared, replaced with the same tiredness Kili felt right down to his bones.

"Will my answer provoke another outburst?"

Fili broke out into a smile causing Kili to release a breath he did not realise he was holding as Fili gripped his shoulder. "I am sorry brother, I did not mean to bring you pain. We have not eaten, we have not slept and I've spent a lot of my time cursing at the length of this damn coat." He signalled to his attire. "I let my anger at myself for leaving you behind take control of me, I did not mean to turn on you like that. I am sure you will fill me in on what's been happening at your end, maybe we can make sense of everything then."

Kili pulled Fili's head against his own. "It's good to see you brother."

In turn, he bid greetings to Oin and Bofur as Tauriel and Nellas whispered in the corner to each other.

"Can we trust her Kili?" Oin asked him. "How can you be sure she isn't just doing the bidding of the King to gain access to Erebor?"

Kili had been prepared for this question since the dwarves had arrived, so without even the skip of a heartbeat he answered, "I trust her with my entire being, which I hope is enough for you, I shall explain what has happened since we have been separated and hopefully you will see."

Tauriel walked towards them as Nellas slipped into a bush on the other side of the enclosure, she slowed as the dwarves turned to face her, her eyes fell to Kili's, a silent question linking between them. _Do they trust me?_

Before Kili could say a word Fili stepped out from behind him, outstretching his hand towards Tauriel.

"My brother has not filled me in yet on what has happened these past few days, but I have the feeling I have you to thank for his safety – thank you."

Tauriels shock mirrored that of Kili's as his mouth dropped open as Fili spoke – he was not expecting Fili to be so pleasant so soon. One by one Oin and Bofur both stepped forward and greeted Tauriel with a quick handshake, Bofur even tried to joke that her outfit didn't match her reddening scar, and Oin offered that he had a concoction that could reduce the swelling of her scar quicker. As they set out through the passage and Oin and Bofur took it in their stride to keep Tauriel looped into a conversation on the perils of their journey to rescue Kili, Fili took Kili's arm and placed it over his shoulder, both supporting Kili's leg and forcing him to walk with him.

"I think its time you explained what went on in the Hall's brother. You've got the walk back down to the waters to convince me why she should step foot on a boat back to lake town with us."


End file.
